Mirror Lantern GL:TAS
by Eramis8
Summary: My first fanfic. The Mirror Lantern joins with the crew of the Interceptor in the Forgotten Zone. A first person-view of the events of the first season. Feel free to comment and constructively criticize.
1. Loading (Prologue)

Chapter 1: Loading….

Waking up to nothing is surprising easy. Well, not exactly nothing. The view I got when I opened my eyes was beautiful and breathtaking. The entirety of the sky was full of the clearest Milky Way I had ever seen. At least I thought I had ever seen. I started trying to figure out how I got here, but all I could remember was fog and someone whispering about a choice. I looked down at myself, hoping to find a clue as to anything that was before that night sky. Typical human male body, fully black clothing and a ring on my hand. My right hand to be specific. It was on my middle finger, and seemed to naturally belong there. It was ostentatious, considering its signet nearly covered all my inner fingers. I had no idea what to think of the complex design. I mean, what's the meaning behind a triangle inside a circle inside another triangle? While inspecting the ring, I turned over my hand, only to be greeted by a horrifically scarred palm. The scar, more of a burn, nearly filled my palm. Whatever the thing had been, it had marks on it. Five lines over an upside-down triangle in a large circle. It didn't hurt, but it had to be significant. I looked up at that sky again, once again my thoughts were struck silent by the sheer beauty.

"I wonder what's up there." I said to myself, my voice a little weak from disuse. The ring on my hand seemed to hum for a moment, then the stars seemed to come closer. Almost like…

"I'm in space." I whispered to no one. I looked down, expecting to see the grass I had felt beneath my feet, only to see more stars in stunning colors.

"How?" Did you do this?" I asked the ring, holding it where I could watch the mysterious piece of jewelry. The ring didn't react, didn't respond. Of course it couldn't, it's just a piece of shaped metal. I think it is; Anyways, I'm stuck in space, somehow not dead and talking to a ring. That would have almost been funny if it weren't ridiculous. I started turning myself around, trying to figure out how to move without the resistance of gravity. Eventually I figured out that I could move in all directions just by thinking about it.

"Okay ring, since you seem to take requests: Send me home. Send me where I belong. Preferably somewhere where I'm not alone in space." With another hum, the ring seemed to take control of me, flattening my body and sending me flying deeper into space. I think I blacked out, or when I hit the ship it made me forget, but all I know is one moment I was flying; the next moment I bounced off a gleaming white hull and started plummeting towards something that looked like a planet. I crashed into the surface, unable to control my fall no matter how much I focused on not falling. I expected it to hurt. Basic physics said I should be a smear, not in one-piece laying in a mile-wide crater.

"I hope I didn't just wipe out some alien equivalent of dinosaurs," I muttered, looking up into a dust-filled sky. When something red came flying out of the dust towards me, I hoped it was whoever I had hit. Maybe they knew something. The red thing resolved into a person, a man with red armor and a face that seemed to not know what a smile was. The man in red raised a fist at me, then shot a beam of red energy at me. Not a friendly way to say hello.

I didn't think, instinctively raising my ring and creating a red shield around myself. The energy flowed around the shield and then I put my hand down and the shield dissipated. The red guy came flying in to me, trying to punch me. At least that's what I assumed it was. About five feet from me, he slowed to a crawl. So I sidestepped and watched as the shock slowly crossed his face. As he finished passing me, he sped up, slamming into the crater wall. He pulled himself up with a growl and a grunt.

"How did you find me?" He asked, seemingly angry at my very presence. The hard snarl of a look he was giving, he clearly had some issues with meeting new people. Just my luck today.

"I have no idea, I was just flying home and hit your ship." I explained, trying to calm the guy down. It didn't seem to work as he attacked again, this time trying to kick and throw more of that red energy at me. Once again, they slowed as they got close and sped back up once I dodged them.

"Stand still so I can hit you!" He yelled clearly angry at not being able to pulverize me. His ring, I noticed, was a bright red and started speaking to him. Could my ring do that?

"Razer, you have not returned in the specified time. I am on my way to provide assistance." A female voice stated. Razer, that's his name, growled at his ring, seeming to think that an appropriate response.

"You missing a date because I hit you? I don't think I left a dent. I'm not hurt. If we both agree to it, we both leave and never say a word about this." I rationally say, hoping to calm this super powered rage monger. His immediate response was to try and punch me. Which failed miserably.

"Why would I trust a Red Lantern? I'm going to kill you and then you won't be able to tell Shard."

"What's a shard? And a Red Lantern? I'm not familiar with those words." I noticed a flash of green above me and could make out a female figure. I couldn't help but smirk, which seemed to irritate Razer even more. Apparently he hadn't noticed his date was actually fed-up with him. Is there any unspoken rules about picking up aliens if their dates attacked me first?

"Your date got tired of waiting. Just go take her to dinner or wherever already. I'm not going anywhere until I figure out how to use this ring anyways." I called out, running further away from Razer. His momentary surprise showed me that I could probably just confound him with a big enough word. What's a twelve-letter synonym for idiot?

"Get back here! Coward!" He ran after me, sprinting close enough to tackle me. Assuming he could make contact with me. I just watched as yet again he flew passed me as I stepped out of the way. I noticed the green glow was directly behind me, so I turned, knowing that Razer couldn't hit me even if he tried. I was not expecting the female to be a robot. Guess that's a no on the pity date thing. Just in case, I stayed civil.

"Hello, your boyfriend there seems to think I'm a… what did you call me? A Red Lantern? Anyways, I think he hit his head when I hit your ship because clearly I'm not one of those… whatevers." I said, only to be surprised as Razer managed to grab me with my back turned. We rolled in the dust until he got on top of me, fist glowing red with energy.

"Razer, stop. This is not a Red Lantern." The machine girl told Razer. Damn, I'm getting beaten by a brain-dead guy while a robot watches it happen. Could my day have gotten any weirder?

"Look at him you stupid computer, of course he's a Red Lantern! Can't you see the armor, the symbol? Are you blind?" He yelled back, turning his head to her. Clearly, his mother didn't teach him any manners. Even if she is a machine, you don't yell her because you have brain damage. Wait, that's probably why he's yelling in the first place.

"Hey, that's no way to talk to a lady. Try being nice and not insulting." I immediately fired back, only gaining more ire from the slightly bigger and much angrier Razer. Apparently, he really wanted to kill me right now. Like, really **really** wanted to kill me.

"Apologies citizen, Red Lantern Razer seems to be suffering from an optical illusion caused by an unknown entity. He seems incapable of seeing anything outside the visible light spectrum range designated red."

"No problem, but could he get off of me?"

"Not until you're dead!" Razer screamed, punching at my head. A quick shift saved my skull from being mashed. I could see two more streaks of green coming through the dust cloud. Maybe those things could get Razer off of me. They materialized into more humanoid forms, but one was quite a bit larger.

"Hold it right there Red! Hands off the GL!" An older male voice called out. I looked over Razer's shoulder to see a fellow human and a giant pig thing in Green armor, almost like Razer's.

"He's not one of your idiotic Green Lanterns! He's a Red Lantern somehow disguising it from all of you!"

"Green Lanterns Hal and Kilowogg, Razer is partially correct. This random citizen is not Green Lantern, however, he is not a Red Lantern either. If you could restrain Razer until we ascertain why all of your optics are malfunctioning." The robot girl calmly said while the other two did as they were told. With Razer off of me, I stood up and dusted myself off. I looked at the ring on my hand, certain that it was causing all this.

"I think my ring here might be the reason you guys can't see straight. The thing kind of stole me from Earth and when I asked to go home it flew me straight into your ship." I explained holding my fist out so they could see the symbol on the ring. The pig-looking one moved closer, inspecting the symbol emblazoned on the ring. He made something of grunt, then looked to his human compatriot.

"Never seen that before. A ring that makes people see things and the wearer can't control it. Jordan, I think this guy's legit. Something about him seems trustworthy. At least, more trustworthy than our Red Poozer here." The giant pig thing said, meaning that he was the Kilowogg the robot mentioned. I'm guessing poozer is a kind of insult directed at Razer.

"Let me take it off." I said without thinking. The moment the ring slipped off my finger, I was gone. Not unconscious, but more like comatose with a stopped heart.


	2. Reset (Prologue Part 2)

The next thing I knew, I was in a white circular room, the ring's weight back on my finger. The two Green Lanterns and the robot were standing over me, looking rather concerned. Apparently this is how alien abductions go.

"Never seen that before." Kilowogg said, clearly trying to make that his catchphrase. Trademark before someone else does.

"It was illogical. All known Lanterns are capable of removing their rings without such repercussions. Even the Red Lantern ring can be removed without seriously bodily harm." The robot said turning to Hal.

"Would someone please explain this whole thing about Lanterns and rings, please? Are you guys like intergalactic antique salesmen or something?" I said, sitting up on the bed that they had placed me in.

"No. The Lanterns are wielders of special power rings designed to harness emotional energy and use it to project hard light constructs into the universe. Each Lantern is of a specific color that identifies the emotion they are powered by. Green is willpower. Red is rage..." The robot explained.

"Okay, Aya, I think that's enough for our guest. Have you run his ring through your databanks yet?" Hal asked, distracting the AI. Aya walked over to a nearby computer panel and started typing away.

"Yes, there have been no matches found in any databanks. All attempts to test the ring have yielded no results as any attempt to scan it causes the beam to be reflected back into the chamber."

"As would befit the power of the Mirror Lantern." My ring said in a deep voice. Not male, just deep, like nothing I had ever heard before. The others turned to the ring, even Razer who had just walked in.

"I'm a what?" I asked it, holding it closer as it hummed and projected a small beam upward in green. The beam coalesced into the symbol on the ring. Once again, stupid thing isn't being helpful, just spouting gibberish and making my day crazier. Wonderful.

"You are the Mirror Lantern. You are capable of reflecting the entirety of the emotional spectrum back upon its interfaces. You are the division between the spectrum's components and as such have access to all of their associated abilities." The ring stated, "You also automatically appear as a member of the Lantern Corps that identifies with the strongest emotion that the viewer holds as part of the pre-training self-defense mechanism. The self-defense mechanism will be active until you create your first construct."

"That explains why I saw another Red Lantern. And it proves that your computer is incompetent as well as he didn't appear to be a Lantern to it." Razer remarked from the bridge doorway. Apparently those horns also work as ears. I could spot Aya's frown at Razer's remark. Jerk is hurting her feelings. Is this what I'm going to have to put up with until I get back to Earth? Gag me with a spoon.

"Inorganic sentients are unreadable to the Mirror Lantern ring." The ring followed-up with, earning Aya's smirk and Razer's scowl. First point of the match goes to Aya.

"Okay, thank you ring. Now shut up and give me my memories back." I ordered it.

"Impossible action requested." Then the thing shut down. Fucking lousy piece of…

"Well, we could always use more people to help us fight the Reds. What do you say, you want to help us stop an invasion and become a hero?" Hal asked, to which I eagerly nodded. Who doesn't want to be a hero?

"Then it's settled. You get to come along with us."

"Raising the number of Lanterns to four." Razer remarked drily.

"Five, including Aya." I said, earning two confused looks, a glare, and a smile. Broke even on that comment.

"Just two quick questions. What's your name and where are you from? I can see you're a human so you have to be from Earth, but be specific son."

"I don't know where but I think my name is Erin. Can we go with that?"

"Sure. Whatever you say kid."


	3. New Recruit (Episode 5: Heir Apparent)

I think I'm ready for this. It took a while to figure out how to project my own armor everyone could see, but at least then everyone would not have to worry about trying to explain that I'm not what I seemed to be. My armor was a dull gray, practically stone grey, except that no matter how hard I tried, it's always super reflective. Stupid ring made me into a walking mirror. Hal joked about using me to style his hair after fights. Not that I joined them on those. Two pirate attacks and a hunter-killer drone attack and they still don't want me to fight. They thought I was still too untrained to fight. I might only have a little experience but I had already proven myself. I finished all of Kilowogg's pre-programmed lessons and I didn't cheat. Maybe I skipped a few, but I still watched them so it's not cheating. Aya had been more than forthcoming with anything she could tell me about anything, including Earth customs and all she could about the galaxy in general. Who would have thought that a Lantern would need an AI to teach him how to do his job? But then again, I don't think I'm the average Lantern either.

Kilowogg was a patient teacher. If patient meant screaming himself hoarse every day trying to make me feel bad. I didn't blame him, considering I was just learning how to use the green energy and I kept being unhittable. The second one was probably more annoying for him than me. Getting Razer to help me train with red energy, now that had been a trick. After I figured out how the red energy worked, Razer and I would leave the ship to train with it so we wouldn't hurt the ship… or rather Aya…. Or… never mind, I'm confusing myself. Anyways, we figured out that I could switch between the two colors with ease, allowing me to bypass defenses specific to each color; so long as they were all there to watch. Proximity was apparently the key to color choice and my other abilities.

After a final inspections from Kilowogg, he declared me active for duty. Took him long enough. Just in time for a mission too. A GL was apparently on this planet called Betrassus, and we were planning to convince him to help us. Well, Hal and Kilowogg were planning on convincing them. Trust issues much? Jerks.

"Oh no, you three are staying here. That includes you Aya. You guys are going to stay here and try not to draw attention." Hal ordered before leaving. Jerk, leaving me with the poozer. No clue what poozer means, but I know it fits Razer. Thank you Kilowogg for teaching me that. Waiting was so boring. I tried chess with Aya and was proficiently stomped; really should have seen that coming. I tried talking with Razer about his past, to which he immediately threatened to feed me my teeth; definitely should have seen that coming. And all the while Hal and Kilowogg were out there having fun, being the Green Lantern heroes. Jerks.

After a while, I decided to experiment with my ring's abilities in the multipurpose room, away from Broody McGrouchypants. Juvenile, I know, but I don't remember ever being told to stop being a child. In truth, Razer might have even been a bit older than me, and he's probably about 20ish. They also never said anything about respecting my elders either, so that's fair game. Anyways, back to what I did. Since there were no Green Lanterns close enough, I shouldn't have been able to access the green energy they used. When I tried, I was surprised to not only see it worked, but it automatically turned my suit into a Green Lantern uniform! Score one for me! I next tried it with the red energy from Razer and it worked just as well, evil armor and all. Elated, I went in to show Razer, because Aya had been watching using that eye-ball mounted thing she did when she wasn't in her humanoid form made it kind of redundant to tell her. Razer seemed more annoyed than ever when I showed him I could now switch between colors at will. Okay, maybe annoyed was a strong word. Apathetic was a closer approximation. Eventually I calmed down enough to really start thinking about things I should ask that might get an answer.

"Hey, Razer…" I asked, only for him to shoot me with that glare of disapproval. Poozer still doesn't like me. Good to know the feeling's mutual.

"What is it now?" He snapped back, his nerves thin from my constant pestering. Can't blame him for once. I know, shocker. He's still a poozer though.

"What's it like to know that someday, you don't have to be a Lantern?" I sincerely inquired, the danger of removing my ring still painfully fresh in mind. I think this was the first time I saw Razer seem shocked. I saw some other emotions flash across his face. I think I even saw sympathy mixed in there, but that could have just been my optimism acting up. Luckily, he was spared answering by the explosions outside, making me jump.

Actually, jump is an understatement. I'm pretty sure my head hit the ceiling. Quite hard, considering the dent I ended up staring at. Typical Razer didn't even look to see if I was okay, instead turning to locate the source of the explosions. Serious poozer. Then he started laughing at me, and I was certain I got a concussion from the way my head was ringing. But when Aya came in, and asked Razer what had given him so much cheer, he could only point to me and then out the windshield and continue laughing. Like full-body, knee-slapping, can't control it laughter. Mega poozer. When the room stopped spinning enough for me to sit up in my chair, I looked outside as more explosions filled the night sky with color. Fireworks, I remembered, normally used to mark a grand celebration. The realization I had panicked at the sound of mere fireworks brought a little extra blood to my face. Luckily, the others didn't notice as they were too busy watching the light show. Aya's face was full of that cheerful curiosity she seemed to have perfected. Razer's eyes were intense and his face as inscrutable as a fresh slab of granite. For a second, I thought I saw flickers of emotion, only to miss them before I could read them. With that embarrassing moment over, I decided I might as well enjoy the fireworks.

I watched for a little while until my vision flashed purple-pinkish for a second. I turned away from the fireworks to see the last thing I expected. Razer and Aya holding hands, making puppy-dog eyes at each other. I blinked, trying to drive the illusion (please let this be a hallucination!) from my eyes. Another purple flash and the scene was gone, replaced by what I expected to see, Razer slouching to hide his enjoyment while Aya stared with rapt attention. Maybe he isn't as bad as he seems. What am I thinking, this has to be a serious concussion for sure now. I told them I was going back to the med-bay to make sure I didn't have a concussion (Which I'm certain I do have, mind you), but they seemed too preoccupied with the fireworks to respond.

A quick scan confirmed it, I busted my own brain. Bravo to me. The thing suggested I wait and let my ring's natural healing enhancement to care of it. Suggested I just sleep it off considering it would be fully healed in about 6 hours. Better than sitting and doing nothing I guess.

(So this is probably a good time to point out that I don't sleep. Not like I'm an insomniac or anything, my ring keeps me from needing to sleep. At least that's Aya's and mine theory. And until we had a definite answer, I convinced Aya not to tell anyone. They already think I'm weird enough, don't need to keep adding to the pile of "Reasons why he ain't Human" list, you know?)

Any who, I went to sleep and had some dreams. I kept seeing things writing the weird symbol on my ring on things. I saw hands, flippers, claws, blades, talons, fingers, tentacles, even a few robotic digits do it. Then I watched my own hand start to write the symbol, but then go limp. I sat up, panic and fear still gripping me. Aya was standing there, seemingly waiting to talk to me.

"How was your first sleep cycle since joining this crew? I did not think you required sleep." She said, her usual calm observations bringing me some normalcy. Hey, no one else had noticed. Probably because they weren't there.

"Terrible. And I don't actually need to sleep. You know, like when Hal naps when he should be piloting. I just wanted to. I miss anything?" I replied, and Aya quick filled me in on what I had missed. Hal and Kilowogg had found the Green Lantern and something about a Queen and a tournament. Sure, leave it to Hal to find something like this. Apparently he and Kilowogg had already left and Razer and she were just waiting. Jerks. Keep leaving me with them. At least we had the ship all ready to leave once they grabbed the guy and brought him back. So Aya decided to disassemble and I decided to go bother Razer. Once again, childish I know but shut up I don't care there's nothing else to do! So I walked in to find Razer arguing with Hal.

"Why aren't you back here with the Lantern we tracked?" Razer asked the red hologram of Hal. Apparently even he got bored.

"He's gone missing." Hal stated, clearly perturbed. I decided now would be a good time to jump into the conversation.

"How about we go find him? Anything to get off this ship for a while." I yelled, while standing right behind Razer. Two birds, one stone as Razer started and Hal noticed I was there.

"What he means is **I** can easily find him." Razer said, shooting glares to both Hal and me. I swear I've seen him make six facial expressions since I joined up. And that's assuming three of them aren't just varying degrees of a fourth one.

"No, are you kidding me? You can't just go around in that Red Lantern get-up. We got enough on our hands without you starting a panic." Hal explained, clearly trying to act like the leader. Okay, maybe he is technically the leader but still.

"My talents are wasted waiting here."

"Stay with Aya. Have her run a scan for Dewlokk's power ring." And then Hal hung up. Okay, even for Hal that was a little jerkish to blow off Red Poozer like that. So naturally, I immediately started concocting a few schemes and looking for loopholes in his orders. Learned how to do that one from the best.

"Sensors have picked up a weak energy trail. It is possible that it is Green Lantern Dewlokk's power ring. The energy trail is too distant to make that determination with total confidence." Aya interrupted as we walked into the multipurpose room. For the first time I've ever seen, Razer smiled. At least as close to a smile he could approximate without shattering that piece of granite he called his face.

"So you're saying we need to be closer?" Razer said, just as it clicked in my mind. Oh, clever Razer, very clever. Aya apparently missed that train of thought. Is it a train if we're talking about an AI? Confusing myself again, skip it.

"It would aid me. However, our orders are to stay on the ship." Aya replied. For as smart and sophisticated as she was, she sure didn't understand that sometimes orders need to be…. Re-interpreted.

"I was ordered to help you trace the power ring. Which is exactly what we'll be doing if you put yourself together and go with us." Razer explained. Apparently he knows how to make Aya understand.

"I will need 2.1 seconds to assemble." Aya stated as her pieces formed her humanoid form. Razer was nearly out the door and I was sure as hell not going to be stuck on this ship alone.

"Are my components properly aligned?" Aya asked, to which I had to resist the urge to flirt. Hal's rubbing off on me. Got to a get a hold on myself there. Razer turned to her, giving her a quick once-over.

"You look fine."

"You also look fine." Did Aya just flirt? I'm chalking this crazy line of thought up to lingering concussion problems. I hope.

They practically left without me. Jerks. Why am I part of this crew again? Anyways we made our way to the energy trail and my new ability really helped. Especially when I used it to make Razer look like a Green Lantern. Wish I had a camera for the face he made when I did it. But hey, it saved him from being mobbed by the general populace so I think he's over it. Two to one that Hal is hitting on the queen or screwing around in general. Okay, the odds are more like one to one but I still find myself giving Hal something of a chance of not being… well, not being his usual self. But that doesn't really matter considering what Aya, Razer and I were up to.

We ended up following the trail into some kind of catacombs. When we spotted guards coming, Razer took Aya and hid with her in a dark alcove while I jumped and suspended myself on the ceiling. When the guards passed by, Razer and Aya came out of the dark and I dropped down.

"For future reference, when in my physical form, I prefer not to be pushed into the dirt." Aya coolly noted. I laughed, it was just too priceless. Aya telling Razer what to do had to be my favorite moment since I had met all of them, including when Kilowogg threw Hal right into Razer as he was coming out of his room. Ah, classic physical comedy. After that little moment of levity, we continued deeper into the catacombs.

Something felt off as we went deeper. After a few minutes, Aya broke the silence.

"My sensors indicate the energy signal is getting stronger. But it seems our search is over." Aya said as we hit a dead end. The weird feeling I had just kicked itself into overdrive as Razer stepped up to the wall. Something was there, but I didn't know what.

"Not quite." Razer replied, immediately slashing at the wall with his ring. The only thing of note in the room was the crypt. Oh great, just our luck. Razer slid open the crypt, fearless of anything waiting for him.

"Dewlokk." Razer stated, confirming my fears. Aya activated her scanners, searching for a cause of death.

"There don't seem to be any indications of a struggle."

"So he didn't go down fighting. Odd. His ring is gone. Has it gone back to Oa?"

"The Interceptor's sensors would have noted that. The signal is still near here."

"It's time we notify the others."

"Why bother? So Hal can keep hogging all the glory when we do all the hard work? The jackass is probably halfway to being the queen's consort right now." I muttered, full of unusual jealousy. Sarcasm is definitely more me than jealousy. I shook my head, trying to figure out where it had come from.

"Are you okay? That doesn't exactly fit your usual annoying sarcasm." Razer said, not out of concern of course. Just curiosity. Though he seemed to recognize I was out of sorts. Weird.

"I don't detect any anomalies in your systems. Perhaps your head injury is not sufficiently recovered." Aya guessed. I tried to figure why I had said that. Could I really still be hurt? Maybe the stupid med-scanner was wrong.

"Anyways, I'm going to tell Hal Jordan that we found Dewlokk." Razer said, backtracking so he could get a signal to Hal. Great, now I'm not only useless to them, but crazy. This sucks. This really sucks. With nothing better to do, we went to meet up with Hal and Kilowogg to tell them what had happened.

"Great job obeying orders, do I need to write them down from now on?" Hal asked when we caught up to him in the coliseum-stadium thing. Guess initiative isn't allowed unless it happens to be Hal's initiative. Jerk.

"A warrior acts." Razer fired back. Can't believe I'm saying it but I agree.

"A warrior listens to his superiors." Kilowogg responded.

"Then glad I'm only a passenger then." I joked. No one like that one. Tough crowd.

"Enough. I'll give them the insubordination lecture later. What have you found?" Hal interrupted. Wow, Hal got serious. Mark the calendar, declare it a universal day of remembrance!

"We found his body in the catacombs. We're still trying to locate his power ring." Razer answered.

"If it hasn't chosen a new bearer already." Kilowogg said. Jerks, every single one of them excluding Aya. What? She hasn't been mean to me yet.

"My sensors indicate the ring is somewhere within the castle walls." Aya said, doing her thing.

"My gut instinct says the killer is too." Hal followed up with. Leave Hal to trust the thing he stuffed every day.

"Then we must find this murderer, and bring him to justice. It is what Green Lanterns do." Aya replied.

"We will. But we'll have to do it carefully. We'll need proof." Hal ordered.

"Go back to the ship. We'll call if we need back-up, but we might need a quick exit. Kilowogg and I have a trap to set." So Hal can plan ahead. Something I prefer seeing than his usual fly by the seat of the pants. Well, back to the boring-ass sidelines.

Needless to say, Hal saved the day and found who the ring had chosen. It's a shame she couldn't come along with us. Ruling a planet does seem like a good excuse though.


	4. Beautiful View (Episode 6: Lost Planet)

Things weren't looking all that good. Only the five of us versus an entire Lantern Corps. So anyways, Aya found out where Shyr Rev's power ring had gone and of course Hal wanted to search for the new guy. Unfortunately, whoever-it-was was about to be crushed by a giant asteroid headed for the planet he was on. This immediately meant that Hal had to interfere. No respect for regulations and he nearly leaves us as a stain on said asteroid. Our hero. Though my seat had a nice view of the Hal-Kilowogg shouting match.

With the crisis of the killer rock delayed, Hal landed the ship. So after walking blindly around for a while, we found some shipwrecked survivors. A quick talk and a failed human reference from Hal later, we all split off. Teams were quickly formed and Razer and I just went off on our own. Razer went one way, I went the other. I eventually came across this one guy in a tree. He had a simple smile on his face. I landed next to him and offered my greetings.

"Greetings to you as well, Lantern E. I am Saint Walker." He responded, then passed me a piece of fruit. An experimental bite later, and I devoured it. We just walked for a while, enjoying each other's company. This place was beautiful.

"You know, you give me a good feeling Saint Walker. Like just being around you just fills me with energy." I said, ducking another branch on our walk through the treetops.

"I must go now though, I sense that there is someone in need of my aid." He stated, then swung away.

"If you see a guy in red, give him a helping hand will you? The jackass needs it!" I called after him. I could still feel all that energy. I just started flying after that, taking in the scenery. After a while, the trees below me began moving and the gaps became paths trying to direct me somewhere. I quickly followed these obvious signals and arrived in a series of rock formations. Nothing like rock dodging to get the blood flowing. Within a matter of seconds, I saw the Interceptor and the rest of the guys chasing her. Putting two and two together, I joined in to give chase. When some crazy activity from the planet forced the ship down, Razer and I were on scene to take it back. Razer got the fun of smacking around the castaways while I made sure the engines weren't damaged. Though the way he cradled Aya… I didn't quite know what to make of it. If I didn't know better, those two might have been up to something. With everybody together, Hal did his usual thing. You know, be the hero and somehow be right. Turns out the planet we were on was sentient and was the one chosen by the ring. Does this mean Oa's going to be jealous? Can a planet even be jealous? Never mind, confusing myself again. Thus concludes this section of my Guide to the Forgotten Zone.


	5. Red Light (Episode 7: Reckoning)

We eventually stumbled across Shard. And that meant switching to surveillance. As if I wasn't bored enough. Don't get me wrong. We had some adventures between finding Shard and leaving Mogo, but I'm not the one that's going to tell you about them. Too embarrassing. Frankly, Razer and I were constantly doing things that Hal and Jordan didn't know about. At least Aya isn't a tattletale. I was manufacturing sabotage devices with the help of Razer because for once, we agreed that sitting and waiting was going to get us killed. So we wanted to be prepared. Eventually, it got to us.

"Congratulations. After a week of stalking Shard, you have unlocked the secret of when they dump their garbage. Can total victory be far behind?" Razer mocked Kilowogg and Hal. Can't blame him. I gotta say, I'm finding myself agreeing with Razer more and more. I know, hard to believe but hey, when he's right, he's right.

"I'm not hearing any better ideas comin' out of your talk-hole Red!" Kilowogg fired back. Sometimes I can't help but agree with both groups in these arguments, so I just sit on my hands and watch.

"Hold on. We're repairing the ship so we can use the ultra-Warp and bring reinforcements from Oa. While we're waiting, I'm gathering as much intel as I can without getting us killed or letting the Red Lanterns know we didn't die when they blew up that planet." Hal explained. Hal, a permanent enigma. When you want him to follow the rules he can't; and when you want to do something reckless and outside the box, he follows the rules.

Razer bristled at the reprimand, "Let me tell you what Atrocitus would do. He'd come after you relentlessly, he'd keep coming until you were dead; Even if it meant his own death."

Razer tried to punctuate his point with a show of force. While his rage was there, (I can see emotion so I can confirm it) the ring power was not. Talk about shooting blanks.

"I was a fool to join you." Razer turned away trying to fight his inner demons, "Soon I'll be as useless as you two. You have no chance of victory if you aren't willing to die for your cause."

Razer struck a nerve there. Well my nerve anyways. I kind of blanked out for a second, and I thought I was sitting in a park with two adults who were watching me. Could they have been my parents?

All of the Interceptor's alarms were tripped and now Hal, Kilowogg, and I started trying to figure out what was going on. Razer was rather suspiciously absent. A quick hard reboot as suggested by Aya and everything was back to normal. A diversion for Razer to escape. I got a bad feeling, like really bad. Razer did this so he could try and atone. Death or Redemption, and he didn't care which one he got.

"See! I told you he was a lost cause! And I say good riddance! Who knows, maybe he was planning this the whole time!" Kilowogg growled as we pursued the planet-city. I was about to fire back when Hal jumped to Razer's defense.

"If that were true, why didn't he kill us when he had the chance?" He asked, somehow controlling himself.

"Why don't we cut the bullshit and try and pay him back for saving us how many times? Which happens to have been a lot of fucking times, just counting since I got here. Try again Kilowogg." I backed up Hal. Teaming up to defend Razer felt right. Weird, don't get me wrong, but it was still right.

"Instead he took the time to create a very convincing diversion." Hal tagged teamed off my comment.

"Agreed. The program is nearly undetectable. My subsystems are studying it even now." Aya explained.

"My bet is he went to settle his score with Atrocitus." Hal told us. I'll take Obvious Statements for 200 Alex. Jeopardy, you know? The game show?

"Then he should have made funeral arrangements 'cause that's a one-way ticket." Kilowogg realized. Too bad the rest of us knew as soon the diversion was over.

"And he knows it. Which is why we have to stop him!"

"It's too late for that Hal. Razer will be tortured and summarily executed as a traitor. The poor bastard has six hours at most. Which is why I'm glad I've been getting ready for this with a few toys. " I say, gaining everyone's attention. A quick explanation of what Razer and I have been up earns me the "we'll talk about this later" look from Hal but he understands that we need them. Getting onto Shard by riding some asteroids in and using the garbage chute as an entrance was something only Hal could think of. Which means it worked. We all went off to do what we needed to. I was running the distraction. With so many Red Lanterns around, I couldn't control it as my suit turned red and angry. I ignored this and set about my job.

I planted the devices around the city, in maintenance areas, and public areas. A few on soldiers patrolling around. Though I kept away from civilian areas. I didn't want civilians suffering for the actions of others. I waited for the signal, loitering in the Red Lantern areas and learning as much I can.

After waiting for the signal for too long in my opinion, the public screen signaled for the public execution of Razer in two minutes. Goddamnit, they failed looked like it's time for me to interfere. I waited until the screen showed Razer, and his would-be executioner.

"Those fucking idiots." I swore under my breath. The signal came from the execution chamber, meaning that Hal and Kilowogg were there. I did my job, triggering the explosives from devices scattered everywhere. The green refractors started generating green constructs of attacking Lanterns. Chaos reigned in Shard. I flew towards the tower where we were supposed to rendezvous, only to be attacked by two Red Lanterns. They could tell I wasn't there to help, but for my first fight it was quick and easy. I could hear the commotion as they fought to free Razer. Eventually, I saw Atrocitus's message and I didn't wait for anything. Aya was in trouble and I wasn't able to contact any of them through all the interference. Guess I did my job a little too well. Of course I didn't engage Atrocitus, he would have kicked my ass. But when Razer showed up, I knew it was time to break out the popcorn. I mean, wait for the opportune moment to help. Yeah, that's what I meant.

In all fairness Razer was doing fine and when I noticed a few Reds sneaking in for a peek I took them out. But then Atrocitus got the upper hand and the requisite villain monologue happened. I heard Atrocitus confess to killing Ilana. I watched Razer make his choice between vengeance and redemption. Luckily for me, Atrocitus was still too woozy to do anything. When Razer left, I took the opportunity to throw a swift kick at Atrocitus's head and left him a little going-away present. A little fancy flying and I was on the ship with them.

Watching Hal berate Razer was painful, so when Razer seemed to be caving under the verbal blows, I put my hand on his shoulder. What? Can't I be sympathetic? Aya let us know she wanted to show us something from the files. Nothing like an enemy armada to make us feel better. After breaking up the little powwow, I waited until it was just Razer and I.

"Razer, if you ever want to talk, let me know." I started off with, and he seemed confused.

"I heard what Atrocitus said. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I know that you and I don't always see eye to eye, but just know something. I willing to share my grief as well." That got Razer's attention. I could see the questions in his eyes, but he turned and stalked off to his room. So much for that olive branch.


	6. Troubled Minds (Episode 8: Fear Itself)

"Ow!" I cried, another piece shocking me. Stupid adaptive technology and soldering!

"Again?" Razer asked, looking up from his own piece.

"Yeah, I think electricity just doesn't like me."

"Among other things."

"Oh c'mon. We were just starting to get along." I joked, and actually managed to get Razer to smile. When he asked for my help making the replacement parts for Aya, I realized it was less about my help and more about him warming up to me. I gotta say, Razer and I had had some good talks since the whole Shard incident. Not that I'm going to go running making friendship bracelets or anything.

"Between you and Aya, I don't think I've met two more persistent people."

"You realize that I got in an extra kick for you before we left Shard?"

"Besides the actual kick?"

"You gotta admit that it was worth videoing."

"Anyways, what was this other kick?"

"Oh, just a small can of those flowers from Kardov 4."

"You didn't."

"I did."

"And they think I'm the dangerous one. You have quite the devious mind. It also worries me that you would keep something so dangerous aboard the ship without telling anyone."

"Actually, the main reason I had them was I wanted to use the pollen on you."

"What?" His eyes bugged out on that one. Priceless.

"Hey, I said wanted to, not did."

"I think it's time to break for the day. Don't you humans need to eat daily?" Razer asked, setting down the part he was working on and following me out of the temporary workshop. I snorted at the question. I'm not exactly a normal human, am I? I didn't sleep, I ate sparingly because my body didn't require as much nutrition for some reason. A few missed meals wouldn't hurt me for months. (Aya and I tested this all out. What else are we supposed to do while everyone else sleeps? Well we do other stuff but you still have to do something productive in case someone asks.)

"No, just Jordan does. At least I think it's only him. Haven't met any other humans to go off of. What about you? Aren't you worried about your provisions running out?" I questioned back.

"Hardly. I have plenty of my own provisions and I only need to eat about once every two weeks or so." My eyes widened on that one. I guess Volkregians are like Earth camels. We got into the multipurpose room as Hal and Kilowogg were leaving to get more provisions on this new place they had found. Not that I liked the look of the place. Everything had a slight yellow tint to my eyes. Like everything had a buttery glaze on it. Gave me the creeps. All that cholesterol in the air would give anyone a heart attack. Or maybe my eyes are just broken. That's a complete possibility too. Everything else has been broken at least once already, so why not?

I decided it might be time to let Aya know that we left Razer's closet of a living space. What? That's where we set up shop. When we finished working for the day, I would take all the stuff and put it in the room next door since Razer was practicing his hermit imitation. Actually, less hermit more ascetic monk I think. I noticed that Razer's ring seemed to be low on energy, and then my ring decided to update me with a warning that I was low on power. So new question: How do I charge if I don't know my oath or even have a power battery of my own?

"Recommend using nearest Lantern Power Battery of any color. This process will not fully charge the ring but will grant enough energy to sustain for an indeterminate amount of time." The ring answered. Helpful only when the help isn't all that important. Well, Hal and Kilowogg had theirs locked up, and I didn't exactly know their oaths to charge straight from the engines, so that leaves one option.

"Hey Razer, I…" I started to ask as I walked in on him and Aya in the bridge.

"Leave me alone." He said, not noticing that I had entered. Apparently Aya steals his focus that well. I know there's something there, the only question is what.

So later, when I figured Razer had cooled off, I found Aya floating around on her mobility chair on my way to his room.

"Why do you wish to speak to Razer?" She asked me, chair following behind me to Razer's room.

"Same as you. Razer's recharging ritual." I guessed. I motioned to the door, "Ladies first."

Razer wasn't happy to see us. Apparently we interrupted something. Judging by how quickly he covered it up, I think we interrupted mandatory crew alone time. Not that I ever partake of that, what with the entire night pretty much to myself. Why did Hal institute that?

I felt guilty when I found out we had interrupted his recharging ritual. Now that I look at him, I can see it pains him to even think about the words he speaks. Then Aya kind of messed up when she said it was interesting. I'm not faulting her curiosity, just her tact. We pissed him off real good, so we hurried out. Well, I hurried out. Aya took her time, probably making Razer feel guilty too. With that little adventure over, Aya and I sat in the multipurpose room, trying to keep our minds off of what had happened. After we sat in silence for a while, I decided to ask something that was bothering me.

"Aya, do you think we could, you know… change the oath?"

"What do you mean Erin?" Thank God she finally stopped calling me Mirror Lantern.

"You know it's obvious he hates using their oath. Maybe we can modify it, change it so it still works but doesn't make him hurt to say."

"Would you like to assist me in the construction of this alternate oath?"

"Of course. It was my idea anyways." So we set to figuring out a new oath for Razer. Aya looked at how we could make it fit and I just tried to come up with something to combine the rage needed to use the Red Lantern ring and Razer's personality. Not that easy. But apparently I'm a bit of a poet. But that's a story I'm not telling. Eventually, we settled on one and now it was time to test it.

"Hey Razer, I need to try something. Can you bring your Battery in too?" I asked, looking at my ring. The usual glow was doing that burned out bulb flickering thing, so now seemed like as good a time as any.

"Fine." Razer came in, plopped down angrily and left the battery on the table. He looked at me, questioning why I had summoned him. I made a motion for him to wait and then took up my position. Aya projected our oath and I began to recite:

_The power of the crimson red,_

_Can lead your soul away from dread;_

_And heal the deepest wounds of hate,_

_Let no one else decide your fate!_

The feeling of the red energy entering my ring hurt. Like when you sip a hot drink, except all over. I shook off the tremors in my arms. Going to have to get used to that.

"Now why don't you try? Aya made it special just for you. I figured I might as well show you it worked." I said, stepping back. Razer then took up his spot to charge and recited the new oath. He told us it worked and went back to his room. But when I walked by, I could hear him using his other oath. Why did it work for me and not him? I felt so terrible about this, but I wasn't going to tell Aya we failed. We can help him, Aya and me.


	7. What is Love?(Episode 9:In Love and War)

"Is that all it takes to stop a Green Lantern, a broken heart?" Razer asked. It's been awhile since we left that place and Kilowogg was still pining after that girl he met. And frankly, Kilowogg's sadness was bringing me down. There's only so much moping I can take in a single day and hanging out with Razer uses that up quickly. Being friends doesn't mean I stop being honest.

"You want to talk about it, Sir Mopes-a-lot?" Hal asked of his friend. Kilowogg made a sound I can only describe as a whimper. Never thought I would live to see that day.

"No! I miss Galia, okay?"

"Hey, I know. You're not the only one that left someone they… care about. You need something to get your mind off this emotional stuff."

"Sensors indicate am entity 8000 meters off the starboard bow. Contact in 20 seconds." Aya turned to the moping Green Lantern. Maybe I should be worried about this possible attacker, but I started feeling like hugging these people who had become like my family. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Thank you Aya, that's exactly what I'm talking about. So Kilowogg, you're in charge. What's your move?" Hal optimistically asked. Why do I have a craving for marshmallows? And what are marshmallows? Someone do something to help me here!

"Look, Jordan. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm just not up for this." Kilowogg's ears drooped. What's a love seat and where can I get one? What the fuck is wrong with me? Luckily, this terrifying cycle of thoughts was broken by an impact. I guess twenty seconds were up. Everybody hit the deck as we were flung from our chairs, even Aya who knew it was coming.

"What the heck?" Jordan asked as he climbed up the controls. A massive creature, mostly clear and pink looked about ready to eat us.

"That's a real monster." Razer pointed out for Hal. I guess Hal didn't think Aya was being serious.

"I did give ample warning." Aya followed up with. She honestly did, but we were all kind of preoccupied.

"I thought you were playing along. Let's get out there guys." Hal ordered as the creature shook the ship again. Looks like I was right.

"Maybe when I stop feeling pink." I said, getting everyone's attention for a second. My normally reflective gray had become some kind of purplish-pink and let's just say, little was left to the imagination. I don't even want to know why anymore, I just want it to stop. And everybody's look agreed with me on that one.

"Shiny's new suit aside, let's stop this thing!" Kilowogg barked, revitalized by the prospect of battle. Hal opened the ramp, only for one of the creature's tentacles to come flying in. It managed to grab Kilowogg, forcibly dragging him from our midst. This was not what I expected to be honest. The thing had the whole ship in a chokehold. A quick shot from Aya only seemed to make it angrier. It managed to grab us all, its huge clear maw giving me a few nightmare images of us being eaten one-by-one as the others watched. Not the way I wanted to die today. Kilowogg was first and he ended up being saved by a stray pink bolt. We did our best to turn to see our rescuers. Never thought I would be saved a queen and an angel. The beast let us go, cowering before these pink-clad Lanterns.

"How many Lantern colors are there?" Kilowogg asked mid-rescue. Really Kilowogg? Less questions, more fighting!

"At least three." I remarked, reminding him of the fact that I had changed colors and now seemed to match our rescuers. Hal, ever the talkative one, decided to ask them questions while they were fighting our clear enemy. Is that a pun? I'm not sure. I don't know, I'm just done. So done.

"So you're what, Pink Lanterns?"

"Not precisely Green Lantern. Where you value willpower, the Star Sapphires channel the power and serve the cause of love." The queen said, charging a kind of sonic energy attack. Whatever it was, it convinced the creature to go dine elsewhere. The queen finally noticed me and my uniform. Or lack thereof. Her eyes widened. Should I be flattered or worried? I can't really think all that well when I'm looking at the angel next to the queen. Priorities.

"Thanks for the assist. How do you happen to be in this neck of the woods?" Hal asked, seeming to miss Her Highness staring at me.

"This sector of space is ours, but pardon my manners. I am Aga'po and this is my niece Gi'ata." She said, eyes not leaving me as I floated to Gi'ata. An angel and royalty? Is there a magic fairy somewhere fulfilling wishes?

"Such a beautiful name could only belong to someone as angelic as you." I stated, bowing my head in something akin to reverence. I saw a shy smile play across her elfin features, setting my heart aflutter. Okay, this violet stuff is love, meaning… wonderful, just fantastic. I have a crush on a Lantern of Love. I felt the daggers in the queen's stare on that one. I think she doesn't exactly like me liking Gi'ata. I would risk a thousand daggers to my back for Gi'ata. This is the kind of thinking I could get behind.

"You know you're pretty handy with those power rings. We sure could use your help fighting the Red Lantern Corp." Hal being oblivious to all this happening around him. I'm adding dense to my description of him.

"I think enjoy allying myself with a fellow Sapphire and his Lantern friends." Gi'ata's musical voice swept me away. I could see Hal was confused, but then it sunk in.

"Oh well he's not exactly…" Hat started before I cut him off with a violet construct of duct tape. Love finds a way, you know.

"Not exactly what?" Gi'ata asked, questions filling those beautiful eyes. Focus so you can answer, lover boy.

"What Hal meant to say is I don't exactly know a lot about the Star Sapphires. You see I kind of have amnesia after running quite literally headlong into our ship. And now all I really know is I was wearing the ring when I woke up. I've been with them ever since." I said, my eyes shooting looks at Razer and Kilowogg. It wasn't a lie, just forgetting to frame my… other talents. They didn't look like they were going to ask. Hal just floated in a huff with the tape over his mouth. Silence is violet, in this case.

"We are close to our home planet. Perhaps you'd accompany us for… rest and repair, before you resume your mission?" Aga'po inquired, looking to me for the answer. Man, she is all over the place. Going from ready to kill me to asking my opinion like I'm the leader? Well, I did kind of shut Hal up so I guess I am at the moment.

"We would be honored." I said, letting them get something of a lead into the ship along with Razer and Kilowogg. Hal just waited for them to leave by shooting me his angry face. I didn't care. I was too smitten.

"Hal if you ruin this for me…" I said, removing the construct. I'm getting pretty good at those.

"She's totally out of your league. Not to mention you just lied to her." Hal said, getting all fatherly about this. When did he become the group dad? I did not vote for that, I can assure you.

"Nothing I said was a lie. They just didn't notice that my ring doesn't look like theirs." I counter.

"You better tell her."

"I will." Hal seemed to accept that answer and flew in. I waited for a moment, ensuring that he was in.

"Later." I said to no one. At least I'm not lying, just dramatically pausing. Anyways, back on the bridge.

"Course plotted for Zamaron." Aya said, as Gi'ata and I sat next to each other. Less next to, more like she sat in my lap and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Sometimes fast is the only speed.

"Males being able to wield the power of love. I've never seen it before." She whispered, her face rather close to mine. I was pretty much putty in her hands at this point. And what beautiful hands they were. Delicately slender and skin so soft you would think silk was polyester. However polyester feels. Or silk for that matter.

"Well, I've been told I'm something of a special case, even amongst our crew." I said, smiling like nothing in the whole universe could keep me down. Which it couldn't. Aga'po was comforting Kilowogg, and it seemed to be working. Less daggers in my back.

I'm going to say this now and do my best not to say it again. Zamaron was as pink as pink could be. The crystals, the buildings, everything. When we landed, Razer declined to join us for the party. Not that he would have been fun to have him there, the buzzkill that he is. Just because we've become somewhat friendlier doesn't mean I stop saying what I see.

"Razer, you sure you don't want to come out? They're throwing us a party." Hal asked one last time.

"How delightful for you. I'll pass." Razer said, not turning from his section of the controls.

"He's not a people person yet. Hal's working on him." I told Gi'ata as I held my arm out in a gentlemanly fashion. Sometimes I'm glad I have all that extra time to learn and practice these things. She gave me a smile but declined. I believe Hal would call that "playing hard to get," but I'm nothing if not stubborn. Man, she had me wrapped around her finger and I couldn't have cared less.

"Aga'po you weren't surprised when you saw us. How do you know about the Green Lanterns?" Hal asked as we walked to their palace. I swear, I'm the only one to notice that these two are obviously royalty. Or maybe that's just too many fairy tales and romance novels read on my part. Or Hal's just glossing over that fact. Take your pick.

"Long ago, we were of one race with your masters." She answered. That shocked Kilowogg. Enough to make the big man stop for a second.

"You and the Guardians? Thanks for putting that in my head." Kilowogg caught up to us with his remark.

"And usually hot girls don't go for the nerds." Hal commented. I rolled my eyes, and saw Gi'ata do the same. She doesn't put up with Hal either. I think I'm falling in love. Assuming I wasn't already in love with Gi'ata. Which I was. I will say this once and only once: Love at first sight is real and the aches in my heart prove it.

"It was long ago. We took very different paths. They refused to allow any emotion influence their judgment. We found this insufferable and foolish." Aga'po explained.

"Sounds like our Guardians all right." Hal finished. I couldn't agree more. Not that I had ever seen them, but when Hal actually took their calls I listened from the other side of the door. What? I'd rather not end up in a Sciencell when we get back to Oa. And the Guardians weren't exactly tolerant of sarcasm.

"My people believe that only love can save the galaxy." Aga'po continued. I completely agree with this idea. Not just because I'm essentially one of them right now, but because it's true.

"Love fuels our rings. Its power is unfathomable." Gi'ata excitedly said to me, drawing some blood to my cheeks. Yep, classic symptoms of lovesickness. Better not let Hal see. Or Kilowogg, don't need him getting mopey again. When we got to the palace, the guards saluted Aga'po as their queen, much to Hal and Kilowogg's mild surprise. I guess I underestimated them. A feast later as celebration sounded good to me.

"Gi'ata entertain them until then, yes? Especially our guest of honor." Aga'po said, looking at me with that last comment. Once again, that weird feeling of unease came and passed.

"So, not that I'm complaining, but are we going to be the only menfolk at this party?" Hal asked, shooting me a look. Frankly, I couldn't care less about what he thought at the moment. My mind was somewhere else.

"We of Zamaron have found that life is more peaceful and loving when women are in charge." Gi'ata told us.

"I'd do anything you say, just to hear the music that is your voice." I said, bowing low. The two groans that accompanied Gi'ata's giggle were totally lost on me. One day they might understand. Or, I don't know, my mind's getting a little fuzzy. Let me have something nice in life please.

"I don't know about that…" Hal commented, only to be cut off.

"We have some time before the feast. Perhaps you would enjoy some of the sights of your rightful home?" Gi'ata asked, dragging me away from Hal and Kilowogg. Hal got practically scooped up in the time it took to shoot a grin back to them. Kilowogg just kind of stood there, like a mopey piece of topiary.

Gi'ata was a great tour guide, not to mention quite familiar with my arm as she clung to it. Not that I'm complaining about that friendliness. Not one bit.

"Is this not the most wondrous of places? Though I wish to know how you got your ring. I have never heard of a male being chosen by one of our rings. You must be very special." She leaned in, her hand rubbing my jaw. There's that blush again. The simple feeling of her fingers on my face temporarily overwhelmed my ability to speak. Or think clearly.

"I-I don't remember. Like I said, I seem to have amnesia or someone stole my memories. Either way, I don't know. Which is a shame. I would love tell you the story if I knew it. If only to spend more time in your company."

"Perhaps you only need some help remembering." She said, leaning closer. I tried to hold myself back, tried to reign in the impulse. I didn't kiss her, but my mind still exploded from our proximity. I pulled back, opening eyes I had closed. This love stuff is seriously strong. I need to concentrate, try and think clearly.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. Not to you." I said, releasing myself from her embrace. I turned to a nearby window, trying to put into words what I felt. Is this why people normally use music and poetry to express their feelings? Because words are sucking for me right now.

"What is it? Have you remembered another love?" Gi'ata asked, her hand on my shoulder. Why did it have to be so hard to think straight around her?

"No it's not that. I-I don't think it is… Why is it so hard for me to tell you how I feel?" I asked myself.

"Was it something I did?" Great, now I've offended her. Smooth.

"Gi'ata it's not you, its 100% me. I'm not an ordinary Star Sapphire." She stepped back, slightly shocked. I tried to will my armor back into its normal form, but was failing miserably. Love is quite overpowering. So I tried explaining. Maybe that will work.

"I'm something called the Mirror Lantern. I reflect the emotional energy of any nearby people. I can use the powers of other nearby Lanterns as though they were my own. That's why I appear to be a Star Sapphire to you, initially. As long as I'm around you, I'm essentially just another Star Sapphire, but without it I'm just a guy with a very reflective finish to his armor. I'm sorry but as soon as I saw you, I… my mind got clouded. I'm sorry I… l didn't tell you. But let me say this. Everything else I've said is true and all I'm reflecting right now is the love I feel for you." I continued, I put my head down in shame. The slap that followed I deserved.

"How dare you!"

"I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"You did an exceptional job anyways."

"Look, I'm trying to apologize."

"You're not doing that well at it."

"Does the phrase love at first sight mean anything?"

"Only that you're shallow."

"It's not like that. I felt a connection…"

"Probably that stupid reflection thing you said you had."

"It's not like that. Everything about me seems to love everything about you. Your innocence, your kindness, and just everything about makes me want to write your name in the stars and sing your praises until the end of time." She gave me a look of disbelief. I hated to do this, but it seems like the only way to prove my honestly.

"Look, I know that with a simple touch of your ring, you can look into my heart and see the truth of my words. We essentially are wearing the same rings so I know exactly what kind of powers you have. So do it." She reached out, the light blinding me. Through the light, I saw flashes of memories only for them to settle on the moment I saw Gi'ata. It solidified, then changed. I saw other Sapphires with other males, hapless people tricked into becoming part of their energy source. Then it settled into my own visage, and I could feel that she truly harbored some feelings for me. Her hand pulled back, and so did mine. I had done the same thing as her and had seen the ugly truth. She didn't seem to notice.

"Very well, your words are true. But still there is something else we must do." She said, her anger gone. But now anger was mine to use. How could I be so blind? Those feelings are just some kind of lie to trick me.

"So you can use my feelings for you to try and turn me into one of those statues? I saw into your mind as well. How could you? That is not what love is meant for." I said, my hand closing over her ring to prevent retaliation. She was shocked when I said that, but the hurt in her eyes was more that I hadn't trusted her than my hand almost crushing hers. Why is love so god damn complicated?

"So we've both lied about things. The question becomes what will you do about it?" She asked, struggling in my grip. I pulled her closer, letting my anger leave but I didn't weaken my grip on her. She looked into my eyes, searching for some way out.

"Simple. I'll give you a choice." She got scared by that one. Wonderful follow-up. I'm such an idiot sometimes.

"How?"

"By removing my ring. Without its power, I'm as unresponsive as the flagstones we stand on. I'm going to let you choose. Me or this false version of love that you seem to follow."

"Why?"

"Because this is what love truly is. It's as saddening and painful as it is wonderful and unique. True love is powerful because it makes you feel everything, the good and the bad. It binds you to a person so deeply you can't help but be drawn to each other. Real love involves sacrifice, putting the needs of another before your own. So I'm giving up everything I am to you. Because it's the best for you. The choice is yours, you can put the ring back on my finger and we can show the others what they are doing is wrong. Or you can simply keep it as a memento and power source, knowing that I will never be able to spill the secrets of what you do here. Either way, you get to have whatever you want. This is the best thing I can give you. So take it with my love." With that said, I took my hands off her and ripped the ring off. Once again, empty blackness, yadda yadda yadda, and unknown time passing, blah blah. A flash of a strange world and a star. Then I woke up, flat on my back looking into Gi'ata's eyes. Those are the real star sapphires, but that's just my opinion.

"No one has ever shown me that kind of love before. I did not truly understand love until now; until you. You have shamed me and all Star Sapphires today." She said, helping me to my feet. I smiled at her, just happy that I got to see her again. My hands cupped her face, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Not so. You taught me that I didn't just have to reflect how others feel. You gave me reason to feel the emotions for myself. A reason to live. Now we should probably go help my friends." I pointed out as the whole palace shook. I'm guessing Razer did something. Just a guess. We flew toward the source of the disturbance, to find Aya and Razer engaged in a one hell of fight. I told Gi'ata to check on Hal and charged in.

"Nobody hurts my friends!" I screamed, barreling through some of the guards. I joined the back to back fighting position they were holding as more guards came. Eventually Aya was blasted down and Razer got covered in crystal. I turned just in time for Aga'po to clock me with some fresh crystal. I was pinned to the floor, my limbs shackled by crystal. I was stuck watching the queen as she tried to get Razer to join the lawn ornament party.

"Aga'po please listen," Gi'ata appeared. I couldn't help but smile. Damn she's hot with that sunset behind her. Actually she's totally hot any time of the day. Or night. Sorry got distracted. She's as good at following orders as I am. Have I mentioned how beautiful she is? Really off-topic, but I don't care, it is worth saying.

"We must release the men," she continued, "we have been laboring under an imperfect understanding of love. Earthling Erin rejected his power as a Star Sapphire and put his love's needs before his own. That is true…"

"Silence!" Aga'po snarled, turning to shoot me some extra eye-daggers. If looks could kill, I would be ground beef right now.

"Men spread war. Even the one who claims our power uses it to harm us. We, the true Star Sapphires, bring the gift of love. The galaxy will know peace only when all men have been gentled by love's violet light." Aga'po said, grabbing Razer. That's not going to end well for anybody.

"So you did have a true love. One who died. But whose form lives again, in this robot." Aga'po said as the glow faded from Razer's face. That's going to be a problem, considering Razer's just wonderful when he's unstable from talking about Ilana. Believe me, there's enough former asteroid dust clouds to prove it. Wait, did she imply what I think she implied?

"It's true," Razer faced Aya as best he could in his crystal prison, "You-You were in my mind. You stole the image of Ilana from my memories!"

"I meant no harm. I simply based my mechanical form off of the last imprint in my database." Aya explained, the shame rather apparent. At least to me; I think Razer was a little jaded to be making sound judgments right now. Quick! Someone gag me with a spoon, this is too sentimentally sweet!

"Enough talk. This Red Lantern is dead inside. He has nothing to fuel us. It is a mercy to destroy him." Aga'po leveled a spear at Razer, ready to kill him. Well, Razer's going to owe me for this.

"Why not say that to the guy that practically seduced your niece and happens to use your so-called 'powers of love'?" I called out, turning Aga'po's attention to me. The hate in her eyes could have fueled the entire Red Lantern Corp. Why did I think this was a good idea? Right before she decided which one of us to kill, Hal showed up with Kilowogg. A quick blast knocked her away.

"By the way, is that a no on the whole teaming up against the threat to the whole galaxy question?" Hal adlibbed, just wanting throw some extra rub-ins before we all died apparently. A few quick blasts set us free. We all beat a hasty retreat. No thank you, I'm am going to GTFO right now.

When big, bad and clear showed up again, it all made sense. The thing was their pet to trap and lure people to their homeworld. Even with my new powers of love, nothing we did could harm it. It was about to kill us when Gi'ata saved us. She calmed the beast and gave us the opportunity to escape. We flew by, but I stopped, not wanting to leave her behind.

"Go now Erin, go while you can." She said to me, as I felt tears start to fall. The tear tracks on her cheeks didn't make her any less beautiful to me.

"I will never forget you. I owe you twice now." I said as Hal flew by. Hal was forced to drag Kilowogg and me back as we left because apparently Galia was here too. Wonderfulness all around.

After we got out of there, Hal and Aya caught us up on everything the rest of us had missed for reasons. After our story time, Razer left and Aya went after him. Hal looked at Kilowogg and me and just left us alone at the table. Birds of a feather, I guess.

"What exactly did you mean when you said you owed her twice?" Kilowogg asked, snapped me out of my reverie.

"You know Kilowogg, sometimes you have to let go to hold on to what's more important." I shrugged him off with.

"Is that one of those Earth sayings? Cause that's bad advice."

"Let's just say I know your pain with Galia, okay?" I said, turning and leaving. Let him figure it out.

Sometimes it sucks to be me. I swear this universe hates me for some reason.

But now it's time to figure out what that weird flash was. And where that planet and the star are.

**(Mid-Season Finale)**


	8. Author Note

**AN: This is why you have to be careful with some characters. They have a mind of their own.**

Author: Say it. *Yanks ML's ear*

ML: OW! Fine. I'm sorry about the previous chapter. I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of it myself.

Author: *glares*

ML: Okay. I won't do it again. From now on, I'll try to relay what happened better. Happy?

Author: Yes. Now for your punishment.

ML: *groans*

Author: The next chapter isn't going to only be your version of what happened.

ML: What? But it's my…. *cowed by glare from Author*

Author: Now that that's settled. *Leaves*

ML: Jerk.

Author: I heard that! Go to your timeout corner!

ML: But!

Author: No buts, or so help me I'll wash out your mouth with liquid soap this time!

*ML takes a small stool and sits on it, facing the corner*

ML: Now back to your regularly scheduled chapters.


	9. Pit-Stop (Post-Episode 9)

**In a nearby nebula… **

"Hal we have to go into the heart of that nebulous star!" I exclaimed, trying to convince Hal that I wasn't crazy. Which is kind of tough, considering everything.

"Look I don't know how scrambled you've managed to make your brain, but that's a bad idea." Hal replied, trying to blow me off. Jerk. Really need to work on my interpersonal skills.

"Hal, I know this sounds crazy, but trust me."

"Green Lantern Hal Jordan is correct. The Interceptor would be unable to withstand the forces of the star." Aya supplied, helpful as ever. Just what I needed. Why couldn't anyone just faithfully follow one of my plans like they do Hal's?

"The star is a gateway to the Mirror Lantern homeworld, it will open if you guys just trust me and just fly into that damned star!" I said exasperated. This wasn't going anywhere. Time to play dirty. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission sometimes, as the saying goes.

"Aya, execute program 'Green Mirror.'" I said, taking advantage of the momentary distraction to knock out Hal with a quick rabbit-punch. Kilowogg turned, surprised at my seemingly random attack. I shot him quickly, knocking him out with a stunning blow to his vagus nerve or whatever the alien equivalent of it was. Razer turned to Aya, as she started speaking gibberish and then shut down.

"What are you doing?" Razer said, leaping to attack me. I moved effortlessly out of the way then knocked him out with a blow between the eyes. I looked at the disabled crew, feeling guilty that I had just betrayed all their trusts. I'm so fired after this, I just know it. I took the time to quickly put everyone, including Aya into the jail cell and took manual control. As I got closer to the star, I could hear them yelling as they woke up. By the time we were close enough to the star to feel the metaphorical and physical heat, they broke in ready to stop me. With a quick push of the thrusters, the Interceptor plunged into the star.

When we popped out of existence near the star and showed up... wherever we were, they stopped looking ready to kill me and more surprised I was right. Except Razer, who still looked like he wanted to kill me. Oh well, two steps forward one back and all that optimistic bull. We flew deeper into the new area we were in, which was full of small colorful asteroids and one small planet orbiting a blue star. Hal took over control and the Interceptor set course for the planet. When we hit the planet's atmosphere, we started crashing. Well less crashing, more something else controlling our fall as it syphoned everyone's power and energy. With my vision going fuzzy, I watched as the whole crew slumped in their seats as the Interceptor gently landed on the planet's lush surface. What the hell was capable of doing this?

"Touchdown." I said, my final words before blacking out. Might as well die laughing this time.

**Hours later…**

I jumped up with a start, not recognizing the new view out of the Interceptor's windshield. When my mind caught up with my body I calmed down, surveying the scene. From what I could tell, we had landed near dusk and it was already past dawn. I decided to leave the powered-down Interceptor and crew. I know, I shouldn't leave them but if I don't find out what drained everybody else then we'd never get off of this place. Besides, they were sleeping and they looked peaceful. Yes, even Razer seemed to find peace when he was asleep; shocker. Anyways, I left the ship and after wandering around, I came across a whole bunch of other ships. Dozens of them, spanning the ages and distances of the galaxy. Some were as old as the Guardians, which is saying something: those blue gnomelings look absolutely ancient. None of them looked worse for wear. And yet they all were powered-down and crewless.

"What the fuck is going on here?" I cursed, glad that I didn't have to worry Aya picking that up and learning to do it herself. I will not be the one who teaches her how to curse fluently. That's when my ring decided to talk. Where's the instruction manual for this thing?

"Welcome home Mirror Lantern. Please proceed to these coordinates to finish your initiation and fully join the Mirror Lantern Corps." It said, then displayed said coordinates.

"Took you fucking long enough to finally be useful." I muttered to it, then set off at a trot. A few minutes later I was in the middle of a clearing standing near a bald spot in the grass.

"Please present your power ring to the entrance to begin your initiation." My ring said, apparently reading my mind. Now it's being helpful. Can nothing make sense in my life?

So I touched the ring to the ground and then the ground swallowed me whole. More like a hole opened underneath me, but the sound it made reminded me of when Kilowogg got fresh supplies and was celebrating with a large meal. Sorry for that mental image. I descended into the darkness and eventually I hit the bottom. Looking up, I couldn't see any light and my ring was radiating light around me, but not far enough to get a sense of where I was.

I started walking, just wanting to get this over with. Eventually, I saw something in distance, illuminated from somewhere. It was Razer, holding someone close. I knew it had to be Ilana. Razer looked at me, his eyes full of hate.

"I came back for her and yet you stopped me from saving her. Why? What gives you the right?"

"The right to what?"

"To be here."

"You mean in an unexplored cave?"

"In my memories. You dared to force your way in and you came here!"

"I would never do that!"

"But you did! Do you ever think before acting? Do know what consequences are? Do you know what it's like to lose everything?" Razer screamed as tears filled his hateful eyes. I couldn't stand it.

"Razer, I wouldn't hurt you. You are my friend. Out of everyone on this crew, only you know my pain."

"What you have experienced isn't pain. It's your pathetic existence."

"Wow that honestly hurt."

"You are nothing. A little body for that ring to wear. You aren't a Lantern, you're a fraud." I felt my walls of self-control crumble and let the red rage into myself. The blaze of power burned, but I relished it. The pain focused my anger.

"Don't you dare say that! I am not a fraud! I am a living being! I no memories of my life before this damned ring! I've left behind my true love behind so the Star Sapphires wouldn't outright murder us! I don't have a past! You have no right to say I don't know what it's like to lose everything! I've lost it more than you ever could! If anything, **YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LECTURE ME ABOUT LOSS!**" I screamed as red energy rolled off of me and into Razer. I saw fear enter his eyes for a moment, and then he faded away. I felt the rage leave me and I shook myself to rid myself of those visions. Something about letting that go had changed me. And I was scared about how it had changed me. I started walking again, wary of anymore of those apparitions. Too bad I was looking for more lighting as a warning.

Something slammed into me from behind, throwing me to the ground. It sunk claws into my back and started to pull on my ring. I clenched my hand and flipped over trying to grab the creature, only to have my fingers hit air.

"Come out coward!" I yelled, standing in my fighting stance. Damn ring wasn't supplying enough light for my dodging skill to be effective.

"Give me what's mine!" A voice squeaked out of the darkness. I turned to it, only to have the ring's glow start to lessen.

"See thief! What's mine won't have you! Give it back!" The voice said, this time from behind me.

"I need it!"

"But mine!"

"Too bad." Then the creature slammed into my shoulders, biting into my arm. I yelped, smacking at the thing. I missed again as it silently flew away. Whatever it was, I'm going to tear its wings off!

"It's mine!"

"No, it belongs to me. It chose me."

"Mine!" It latched itself onto my hand, its claws tugging at the stubborn band. I snatched at it, trying to pull it off. As it came off, so did my ring. I could feel it slipping past my knuckle. Like hell this flying jackass is taking my ring.

"IT'S MINE!" I hollered, my fists becoming orange as I ripped the creature off my hand, the ring firmly in place. I could hear it fleeing, its panicked voice renouncing its claim. Another test down, a new color found.

**Somewhere with Razer**…

Razer sat up in bed, looking around for the crew. But all he could see were moonlit hut walls. He looked at himself, expecting to see his Red Lantern armor only to find his nightclothes. He pulled the sheets from him, sweat pooling in the unusual humidity.

"What's going on here? Where's the Interceptor?" He said, trying to remember how he had gotten here. Where was his ring? Where were the others?

"Razer? My love, what is it?" a voice he never thought he would hear again said. He turned to it and saw her. Ilana, she was next to him in bed, alive and slowly waking up. His breath caught in his throat. This had to be some kind of trick, some kind of sad illusion or a fleeting dream.

"Ilana, what's going on? How did we get here?" He asked his wife, wanting this to be real and fake at the same time. He looked into her eyes, those eyes he could only see in his dreams.

"Razer, you've been ill. Has the fever driven everything from your mind?" She inquired. Oh Grotz how he missed her. His heart ached knowing that this might be only a dream.

"Ilana, please tell me what happened. The last time I saw you… you were dead." He begged, tears forming in his for the first time in ages. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had shed tears.

"My love, if anyone has nearly died, it was you. When you saved me. The blade buried itself deep in your shoulder, you got an infection. You were ranting and raving about a ship and people I've never heard of. We left Volkreg while you were still being healed. The healer just released you yesterday. Please my love, go back to sleep and we will talk tomorrow." She soothed him, gently laying him back into bed. It had been so real. Could it really have all have been a fever dream?

**In the caverns**…

This had to be some kind of test. And it was following the colors of visible light. First red, then orange, next had to be yellow. But what emotion was yellow? I remember Hal saying he had felt paranoia and fear when he had been exposed to that yellow mineral. Aurum he called it. So yellow is fear. But is it my fear or theirs? My little thought train was derailed by a growl. Which turned into a chorus of other animalistic sounds.

"Who's there? Show yourself." I willed my ring to spread the illumination outward, hoping to get a warning as to what was coming. But whatever it was bounded closer.

What I saw chilled me to the bone. The beast, no the monster, in front of me was colossal. Its many heads were all misshapen and warped. The monster looked at me with thousands of eyes. I shivered, immediately trying to lash out with my ring. No red, no orange, no violet, not even the green I had gotten used to wielding. The heads lunged at me as its tree-trunk legs slowly churned towards me. I dodged, trying not to die. I took off in a panic, trying to keep ahead of the beast.

"C'mon yellow. C'mon!" I yelled at my ring, the monster's stride thundering behind me as I fled. Okay, it doesn't work on my fear, so it has to be someone else's fear. But who feared me? No one. Wait, I'm going to die either way so this might just work. I stopped running, turning to face the monster. I waited for one of its heads to attack. I dodged the attack, leaping onto it and pulling Razer's knife from its sheath. Did you think I would leave the people that essentially gave me my powers behind without a back-up plan in case my ring didn't work? I stabbed the head, drawing cries of pain from it. Another head snapped at me, forcing me to jump to the monster's back. The thing was even more hideous here than on those heads. And that's saying something. A terrible mix of scales, fins, and fur made up this thing's patchwork back. I slashed at the disgusting flesh, drawing more cries of pain. It started to roll, trying to get me off of it. I ran along its side, stabbing all the way. It finished its maneuver on its back, it vulnerable belly exposed to my blade. Its shrieks of pain spurred me on as its legs tried to crush me. But I was too quick, too efficient, too motivated. Its purplish blood lay in massive pools now, its cries turning to whimpers. Its legs stopped flailing, and its many heads fell back, leaving only the largest head still focused on me. I looked into its eyes, and where rage and intelligence had been, all that was left was fear. I felt more than saw the yellow energy coloring my ring's light. I win.

"You fear me now." I said to the creature, holding my blade forward. I fashioned a massive yellow version of it, and let it behead the monster. When the blade finished passing through its neck, I was alone again. Nothing but me, a dirty blade, and a pool of purple blood at my feet. Another test passed.

**Wherever Razer was**…

Razer awoke to the bright sunshine, trying to remember what had happened last night. He had had another odd dream. The one with the unmarked boy and the robot girl. Maybe the shaman could help him understand these visions. Or maybe his wild imagination still held sway on his mind. It didn't matter to him, since he knew it could be taken care of.

"Ilana, my love, where are you?" Razer called out softly, not wanting to wake the children. In the years since he had left Volkreg, he had never believed he could know such peace and happiness again. Ilana came from the kitchen, a small bowl in her hands and two little fists stuck in her dress. Razer reached out, picking his daughter up and smiling. She looked so much like Ilana, except for her hair. She had gotten his silvery-white fade into the more common black roots. But she had Ilana's wonderful eyes.

"Jilla, let your mother have some peace. Maybe Yorda and Eyalan are awake." Razer said, hugging his youngest. She giggled, hugging him back then running off to find her siblings. He laughed and gratefully accepted Ilana's bowl. Eating his breakfast quickly and then dressing for his day, he kissed Ilana and left for his grandfather's home. The move hadn't been good for him, his advanced age making him more susceptible to the new environment. The healer said it was simply his Oda's time, but Razer refused to let the man who had raised him to merely end because of some new foliage. He got to his grandfather's hut, where the old man still clung to his family and heritage.

"Razuhl, is that you my boy?" A scratchy voice called when he entered, carefully shutting the door behind to try and keep as much of the foreign pollen that he could outside. Grandfather had enough problems without hay fever.

"Yes Oda, it's me. I brought something that might help you breathe a little better too." Razer said, pulling the air purifier from its wrapping. He walked in to his grandfather's room, and noticed that he was even thinner than before. The elder Volkregian was sitting up, his eyes bright with energy.

"Razuhl, come here. I need to tell you something before my time is up." His voice becoming weaker. Razer rushed in, concern for his grandfather making him forget the stupid purifier.

"Don't say that Oda, please. You're not going to die."

"Death has given me the clarity that I need to help you."

"Please, don't talk like that. You help me every day by being there to teach me."

"Razuhl, you need to remember. Become yourself." He pulled Razer close, close enough to stare into his and see himself reflected. What Razer saw was impossible. He was wearing red armor and a scowl. That couldn't be real. His grandfather lay back, and closed his eyes. Razer felt the memories he had been blocking come back. None of this was real. Another illusion, another trick. Worse than the Spider Guild prison. He felt his rage rise, the energy of it coloring his vision and body in red swathes. It must be a by-product of that planet they were on. He would not be fooled again. A massive flash of red, followed by a period of darkness.

**On the Interceptor…**

Razer sat up, gasping like he hadn't breathed in hours. He looked around, calming down at the sight of the Interceptor and the unconscious crew. Except for E, who had apparently moved to somewhere else, judging by the opened doors and turned chair. That was when Razer realized that they were probably trapped somewhere in their minds as well. He decided get Aya's help first, since they might need to leave soon and he didn't want to be stuck without her. He meant without her at the controls. Why was he even trying to justify the decision to himself? He put his hand on her shoulder and found himself in her dream world.


	10. New Challenges (Pit-Stop Part 2)

**In the caverns…**

Another color down, now it's time for green. Wonder what is going to test my will. I felt something hit me square between the shoulders. It slammed me to the ground, pinning beneath its force. I looked up, only to find one of those gnome things Hal called a Guardian looking down at me. Man, even when they're illusions they still have that aura of smug superiority.

"You think you are worthy of your power? To hold so much when you know and care so little? How have you been anything other than a detriment to your so-called friends?" The guardian said, calling out my insecurities. Nice way to test my will. What did they think, that this was? Stereotypical middle school or something?

"Of course I am! I care plenty about other people and that doesn't mean I need to know much about myself!" I fire back, confidant I can beat this challenge easily. But the weight pinning me got heavier, forcing my head back to the ground.

"You are an ignorant fool! You don't deserve this power! You don't have the strength or the will to wield this power!" The ring started to fall off again. Either this thing wants to leave or I'm not worthy of it. Wait, why am I doubting myself? I started laughing, the sheer ridiculousness of this test. The flying gnome lost his smugness, and I knew I had him. Time for some fun.

"You think you can fool me? I don't care what you think. It only matters that I care enough to will it to happen. Like my Hal Jordan construct about to kick your ass." I said, watching as the thing turned just in time for the construct to take him out. Current score: 4 – 0. I am the undefeated champion of this!

**On the Interceptor…. **

Razer was surprised to find himself on yet another new planet. At least this time he kept his armor and ring. He started searching for Aya, looking between all the buildings and he realized that there were tons of Green Lanterns all flying somewhere. So this was Oa. They didn't seem to notice, or even care that he was there. Maybe wherever they were going would be where Aya was. When they went in to a building, Razer followed them into it, and entering a massive amphitheater. What he saw shocked him: Aya was center stage, surrounded by guardians. He ran without thinking, his ring charging to fight when the guardians spoke.

"Today, we welcome our newest member, the AI known as Aya. She has proven herself worthy of the title and ring. Aya, we name you Green Lantern!" To the thunderous cheers of the assembled Green Lanterns, Aya accepted the ring and Razer watched as it integrated with Aya. Razer lowered his ring, but didn't stop running. He vaulted onto the stage, startling everyone.

"Razer? How is this possible?" Aya asked, walking up to him. Razer glanced around, feeling the room growing hostile already. He resisted the urge to stare back and kept his focus on Aya.

"Aya, we need to leave. This isn't real. If we don't wake up we'll be stuck on that planet until we die." Razer explained, grabbing Aya's arm. She looked into his face, confusion drawing her eyes half-closed.

"Aya, don't listen to this thing. It's a trick!" Razer turned at the familiar voice, his eyes seeing but not believing. There he was, a Green Lantern version of him. Calling him out. Only in a dream world would he ever be caught wearing something as ridiculous as that outfit, much less be a Green Lantern.

"I would never have joined the Red Lanterns. Atrocitus led my world to war. If I hadn't been given the ring, I never would have been able to save Ilana." The GL Razer continued, leaving Razer stunned on the stage. Razer knew he had to find the way out. Aya was going to hate him for this, but he knew it was the only way.

"Aya, execute program 'Green Mirror'." Razer said, then watched as the world faded and he found himself back on the Interceptor, his hand on Aya's shoulder. Aya awoke quickly, turning to Razer. Her expression was unreadable then she left without a word, leaving him alone with the unconscious Green Lanterns. Guilt stabbed him with its remorseless blade. Great, now who would help him?

"Gnartz." Razer muttered, knowing this was going to take some time. The question of where E had gone would have to wait.

**In the caverns…**

Blue, time to face the challenge. I felt pumped after that last one. I kept going until I hit an invisible wall. Which then turned out to be an invisible box. That also happened to be indestructible. Or knife proof. I figured I could wait it out. Then the voices started whispering. They whispered of my failures, my lost past, all the secret fears I had been hiding. All the lies I had told myself, all of my doubts. I couldn't drown them out, they were in my head. There was nowhere to run, no way to avoid the accusations. The pain mounted as they destroyed everything I had built up in myself. My dreams, my memories, my personality. All that I had made of myself since joining the crew. All being torn to pieces.

"Shut up!" I cried, the pain of the voices driving me to my knees. I felt something weighing down my hand as the voices started to grow louder, heaping me with more and more failures of mine, of a past I would never know, and true physical pain. What did I have left? This stupid ring that kills me if I didn't wear it? A group of people that don't really seem to notice I'm there? A life that I will never know? I'm nothing. Just another ghostly memory waiting to fade.

I looked at the weight in my hand. It was a little box, the right size to hold the ring. I put my hand on the ring, slowly pulling it off my finger. Everything I had done since waking up flashed by.

Bertrassus, Mogo, Shard, all the colonies, and Zamaron. I stopped pulling on the ring. A single memory held my attention. A single memory stood between me and permanent death in this godforsaken cave.

Gi'ata's smile, her gentle concern. Her lingering touch. The feelings that stirred within me even at the very thought of her. What did I have to live for? I lived for others. I lived for life itself, for the hope of a future. A future worth fighting for with everything I had. The tears in my eyes turned blue, flowing and guiding the ring back to its place on my finger. Hope had been found. The blue trial was now done.

Wiping the tears away, I continued deeper, ready to face my next trial. Some immeasurable time later, I saw another illuminating spotlight, apparently the signal for my next test. When I saw the little girl crying over her dead mom, I knew that this was going to be some really fucked up kind of test.

"Mommy, please wake up. The bad men are gone." She cried, tears running down her cheeks. Why is it always kids? Is there no allowance for innocence in this whole galaxy? Maybe that's what the guardians should try protecting. Flying gnome jerks.

"Hey." I said, the girl turned to me, plainly scared at my sudden arrival. These may be illusions or whatever, but until they stopped existing I'm considering them real. At least they're real enough to hurt me physically, so you know it's not easy trying to keep this straight in my head. Anyway, back to the entertaining part of this.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help. I think I know what you need to do." I say, crouching down so the girl can look me in the eyes. She calms down, sniffling.

"What's your name? They call me E."

"Like the letter?"

"Yeah."

"That's silly. Your name can't be a letter."

"Well my friends call me silly all the time anyways. Besides, it's better than Q. Now that's a silly name." She giggled at that one. Random reference score: One.

"What's that on your hand?" She asked, turning over my hand and revealing the weird scar. Haven't thought about that for a while.

"I got that for being a good guy."

"Why would a good guy get hurt?"

"Because it's better for me to get than adorable little kids like you." She smiled, now it's time to drop the metaphorical bomb and hope it doesn't literally kill me.

"My ring can help your mom."

"Really?" Her eyes were wide on that question. What is it with kids and having that one look that melts any stone or coldness in your heart? Maybe Razer needs to spend some time around kids, so he can soften up. Anyway, time to get it over with.

"Yeah, but it'll make me go to sleep for a long time. When I give you the ring, you gotta put it on your mom's finger. Can you do that?"

"But mommy didn't wake up when she went to sleep. Why can you?"

"It's my secret power. As a good guy, I can go to sleep like that and wake up once I need to. Now your mommy's gonna be confused at first, but whatever she does, don't let her take off the ring."

"Why not?"

"Cause it is special. When I give it to someone, they get to keep it and they get to be a hero like me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, here." I said, pulling it off and just managing to put in her hand before I blacked out. At least I did something good this time. Then I woke up, the ring was glowing indigo on my finger.

"You're selfless sacrifice shows your true compassion for others." The ring said, then stopped glowing that made-up color. I guess that was the sixth trial. One more color to this rainbow from hell.

**On the Interceptor…**

"Okay, Razer we're all up. Now what do you want? And where's Shiny?" Kilowogg asked, more than peeved about the whole wake-up from the best dream ever thing. Razer had to consider that he alone had seen everyone's dreams and yet no one had been there to help him escape. So how had he done it?

"I told you, this place had some kind of reverse mind-thing. Like the prison, only instead of fear it uses our best dreams." Razer replied, trying to convince them that this wasn't just a case of exhaustion.

"Razer was correct to awaken us, however there is someone approaching and all of us do not have enough power to do more than maintain our translators." Aya stated, returning for the first time since Razer had woken her. Out of everyone, he only felt guilty when he had awoken her. She couldn't dream so she had had no choice but to accept that it had been reality until he had shown up. However, the mystery person approaching was most likely a threat. Wherever E had gone, he hadn't closed the doors so they could hear what sounded like an angry squid.

"Why do I have to pick up the new batteries? The newbie would be doing this if he weren't fooling around in the initiation caverns. At least he brought us a good set. Three Lanterns will make him Thaegan's favorite. Probably have to do something about that. At least he didn't lock up before he started." The squid-like alien said as it walked up the Interceptor's ramp. Kilowogg smashed its face using a piece of nearby piping, sending it back down the ramp. The three Lanterns tackled it, wrestling the tentacles and trying to subdue it. Aya instead grabbed the alien's ring and pulled it off. Without the ring, the alien stopped struggling as its body became dust.

"What the heck was that?" Hal sputtered, clearing as much dust as he could. Nothing worse than the taste of dead alien dust.

"This creature also possesses a power ring with the Mirror Lantern symbol. Apparently the lethal effects of its removal are more powerful than previous experiences showed." Aya mused, holding the ring up for the others to see. It looked a lot like the one E wore.

"So Shiny was right about this place? He wasn't just acting crazy?" Kilowogg asked, hefting the makeshift club back onto his shoulder. Typical Kilowogg. Always solving his problems with something big to swing.

"Perhaps we should be more worried about the fact that he referred to us as batteries and he mentioned something about someone going through an initiation." Razer pointed out. A quick discussion and a hurried look at the other ships confirmed their fears. No one around and no trace of anyone in the vicinity.

"Razer, Hal and Kilowogg, I believe my sensors have located the caverns mentioned by the other Lantern. They appear to be 1.2 miles from here. Perhaps our missing crew member is there." Aya informed them, then proceeded in the indicated direction without waiting for orders. Razer couldn't help but smile as Hal and Kilowogg gave chase. Apparently he was the only one who had noticed how independent, how… alive Aya had become. What was he doing, thinking of an AI like that? She had stolen that form from his memories. And yet he couldn't think of it as anything other than Aya's. What was wrong with him? Razer snapped out of his reverie as Hal called out for him to follow. The only person who seemed to have any answers was the one who wasn't even there.

**In the caverns…**

Last trial, best trial. I know it's going to be pink-purple, violet, whatever you call it. I still can't decide what color it is. Maybe I need my eyes checked. We just left the Star Sapphires, so it's pretty easy to know this is going to test my love. This should be interesting. Instead of some sad scene, someone in a black robe was waiting in the spotlight, clearly waiting for me even though his hood was up.

"S'up Mr. Creepy?" I smart-alecked, ready to get this underway. The hooded figure didn't flinch, only turning away from me in what I suppose was disdain. Rude much...

"Can you do it?" He asked, giving me a good guess that he was supposed to be some kind if representation of age, or time, or whatever. I'm not huge on this whole symbolic journey anymore, so cut me some slack.

"Do what, exactly?" I asked, impatient as always. What can I say, the end is in sight and I want answers.

With a flick of his hidden wrist, a copy of Gi'ata was standing next to us, waiting on something. At least I hope it's a copy, because I was suffering from something and I didn't exactly want let the real Gi'ata know I had it.

"Can you break her heart as you have so many others?" His arm swept off into the distance, now filled with millions of people, all standing in their own personal spotlights. Whoever managed this place's lighting deserves a raise and an Emmy for added production value. The old man in the black robe started walking, followed by the Gi'ata copy and then me. He stopped in front of one of the people, a Volkregian woman who held a dying man in her arms. I could see the man using the last of his strength not comforting her, but drawing that damned symbol. Some connection to the ring, he was a failure then, and now in front of my eyes.

"Do you even remember her?" The old guy accused. My list of jerks just keeps growing.

"Ventia, she was married to…" I started, the name surfacing from some inner spring. What was I before this ring? Lots of new questions to ask later.

"She was married to him. To you. Until you died in the fighting that consumed Volkreg. Your death left her and your grandson unprotected, you left them to die at the hands of the warlords." The old man followed up with. Jerk to the max. I'm going to kick his ass soon. The fact that Gi'ata was there was saving him from a proper thrashing. For now.

"But that wasn't me. You're trying to confuse me." I counter, flimsy as that argument was. C'mon think of something better. Or plan where you're going to hit him first. Either seems good.

"You broke her heart, dying and leaving her without your comfort and any hope of survival on that war-torn world."

"I told you, it's not me. Whoever that guy was, he isn't me."

"You barely know your own past. How can you claim to know theirs or how they are connected to yours? So answer my question and finish your initiation. Will you break her heart and let her join their ranks?" I turned from the old man and the scene, watching as similar scenes played out in every spotlight. A past person he claimed was me dying and a past love weeping over their broken bodies. I looked at the copy of Gi'ata. It smiled at me, but it wasn't the same smile I knew. It was full of sadness. I thought about my answer. I know, you probably don't believe someone so impulsive could ever do that, but hey I remembered to take the knife. Doubt you remembered that. I took another look around and then down at my ring, where its violet light pulsed to the beat of my heart.

"The answer to your question is yes and no." I couldn't see his face, but I know it was full of confusion. Time to close the book on this adventure.

"You act as though I'm the same as every one of those other guys. I am not them, and they are not me. WE DON'T DEFINE EACH OTHER. They never hurt them on purpose, it was a byproduct of their love. The worst part of love is that you will hurt each other. AND IF I FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE, IT'S UP TO THEM TO HURT ME, NOT YOU!" I finished with a powerful blast, knocking the old guy deep into the crowd of scenes. I turned back to the Gi'ata clone. I reached out a hand, tentatively touching her cheek. When her hand found mine, I pulled her into my embrace. She looked deep into my eyes, waiting and accepting. Points for realism there.

"Just wait until I see the real you." I whispered to her, and kissed her. Too bad she faded after the first press of our lips together. Damn initiation blocking a guy's mojo. I turned, searching the now empty cavern for any sign of anything else. Not that far off was a glowing exit. Game over, time to move on.

A quick step across the threshold found me in a completely different room. The walls were sterile white but tastefully decorated with mono-colored banners hanging around. One for each color. Then I noticed the giant Lantern battery. That must be the Mirror Lantern Central Battery, like the one Hal had said the guardians kept on Oa. The thing was a massive rectangular pyramid, perfectly clear other than a reasonably sized sphere of perfectly reflective metal. The glow of the Battery illuminated a small triangular protrusion that extended from the sphere to the outside of the pyramid. Finally, I noticed I wasn't alone.

"Welcome to our newest member!" A cheer came from the assembled alien group. Maybe a dozen assorted people, all garbed in similar reflective armor with the Mirror Lantern symbol centered on their chests. So it wasn't just my ring fucking with me. It was the factory default.

"What's going on? Are you guys Mirror Lanterns?" I asked, earning polite chuckles from them.

"Yes, but your trials are not yet over brother. Now you must charge from the Central Battery. You have shown yourself capable of feeling and using the full emotional spectrum, but now you must let them empower you." The leader of the group said, and with an unspoken command, the group formed a corridor up to the Battery's dais. What I saw next shocked me. And here I thought I had seen everything by now.

Out of the banners walked copies of me. Not exact copies of me. They were pure emotional energy constructs of the colors, filing into the proper rainbow order. Nice to know so many colors match my eyes.

"Go to them and recite your personal oaths and take them into you. Then you can charge and become a full Mirror Lantern." The leader directed me as I walked up to them. The red one was first, a scowl on his face. His armor was sleek and yet gave off a sense of danger. His arms were crossed but he held out his ring so that mine could touch his and draw on its power.

_The power of the crimson red,_

_Can lead your soul away from dread._

_And heal the deepest wounds of hate,_

_Let no one else decide your fate!_

With a smirk, the red construct was drawn into my ring. Now the orange one, who wore rather ostentatious looking robes. And he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the ring that touched his.

_Never consumed by the Orange light of greed,_

_I only take that which I need._

_Enemies you will fear my creed,_

_Take what's mine and you will bleed!_

Another one drawn in, making me feel… more complete. The yellow one sneered at me, seemingly trying to scare me. Colonel Mustard there looked ready for a safari, so covered with pockets and knives was his bulky armor. Nice try, but bro you're me.

_Those that taste my yellow power,_

_Upon your fears I will devour._

_My enemies' terror will overpower,_

_Now stand aside in fear and cower!_

Green me tried his best to look professional but he just kept acting up. He was wearing pretty much the same thing Hal wore, without the mask. Hal had rubbed off on me more than I cared to admit.

_In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night_

_No evil shall escape my sight._

_Let those who worship evil's might,_

_Beware my power; Green Lantern's Light!_

Blue gave me that kind of knowing smile and then bowed. His armor was simple, like leather over simple cloth. Apparently Hope is rather respectful. Note to self, don't go blue: they won't appreciate my sarcasm.

_In fearful day, in raging night,_

_With strong hearts full, our souls ignite._

_When all seems lost in the War of Light,_

_Look to the stars- For Hope burns bright!_

My indigo limited-edition copy was looking at me with something akin to sadness. He held a staff that looked as wild as the tattered sack that he wore but nevertheless extended his ring. Great, now I know which color is my conscience.

_With Indigo's compassion in my heart,_

_A new path for myself I will chart._

_Enemies turned to allies they will depart,_

_Forgiveness and empathy are just the start!_

Lover boy shot me a wink and mouthed "Tell her" before raising his ring. I'm not going to describe that humiliating outfit. I nodded, though really, what else am I going to do?

_For hearts long lost but full of right,_

_For those alone in blackest night,_

_Reach out for the Sapphire's Violet light,_

_In the name of love, stand up and fight!_

With all of them gathered, I felt more like myself than I ever had before. I took a look at the Central Battery again and walked to the protrusion. I turned to the battery, raised my ring and began my own oath:

_From new-forged dawn, to ceaseless night;_

_Against all evil I shall fight._

_Let those around me be my might;_

_Reflect their glow, for the mirror shines bright!_

The power flowed into me, filling me in a way the other time I had recharged couldn't compare to. The leader put his hand on my shoulder in congratulations but turned as something made a noise from the side of the room. A door I hadn't noticed flew open, revealing a dirt-covered Aya, a very angry Razer, a steamed Kilowogg, and a very surprised Hal. All the Mirror Lanterns pointed their rings at the new arrivals. My crewmates raised improvised weapons. What the hell was going on?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa guys. These are my friends, my crewmates. Wait, I thought you guys were out cold. What woke you guys up?" I asked, looking to Hal for answers. Even staring down death, I subconsciously think of him as my leader.

"Your new friends use people as living batteries to feed their Central Battery. These guys have been catching unsuspecting ships and converting them into power for their rings. Just like…" Hal said, gritting his teeth as the assembled Mirror Lanterns started to glow dangerously. I knew what he meant to say. Just like the Star Sapphires we had just fled.

"Is this true?" I turned to the leader, disbelief the only thing holding me in place. His expression hardened, taking his gaze off of Hal to look me in the eyes. They were cold and expressionless, so different from before.

"Brother, these batteries hold more vital emotional energy than we can use! Their connection to you makes them even more effective. You don't need them, you have us! With us, you will learn the secrets of immortality and become a master of this galaxy. A god even! All they can promise you is misery and weakness." The leader said. I turned back to the Central battery, but my eyes didn't leave my ring. Could it be true? Could I live with myself if I did this? Could I live with myself if I didn't? I knew what I was doing. I turned back to my former allies, my ring raised against them. Hal's head fell. Looks like the hotshot didn't have a way out of this one. All cards are on the table, now it's time to read them.

"Hal," I taunted, "What's the most important rule of being a Lantern?" The confused look he gave me almost made me reconsider, but hey Aya and Razer will probably figure it out for him. I whipped around, my ring's charge enveloping and deactivating the Central battery. The shock of drawing all its energy through me hurt. Think finger in the wall socket plug times infinity.

"No!" The leader had time to scream before he and the others turned to dust. My legs gave out and the last thing I saw was the others racing to me. For the love of all that is holy, please figure this out you guys. Please.


	11. Recharge (Pit-Stop Part 3)

**AN: Don't worry dozendows, the story will go on for some time. I've even started working on the second part. Also, you have to keep reading to find out the answers to your other questions.**

**Across the room…**

Hal couldn't believe what he had just seen. Evil Lanterns that converted people into power sources wasn't hard to take after Zamaron, but it turning out that they were all dead? Not expecting that one. When E had turned on them and shut off the battery, they all exploded into dust except him. So he had to figure what he had meant with that last taunt.

"Kilowogg, any clue as to what the heck he meant?" Hal said as he sifted the rings out of the piles of dust. He didn't want to risk any of them getting up again.

"It's really simple. Keep your ring charged." Kilowogg reminded him, "Though what we're supposed to do with that I don't know."

They finished gathering the rings and stood over E's lifeless body. The way his eyes were open, accusing them of being unable to save him. Then they looked at his ring and noticed it was flashing a warning about being dangerously low on charge. Razer was the first one to figure it out.

"He means that we need to charge his ring. We have to go back to the ship and recharge him!" Razer ordered, jumping forward to lift E and look at the others. "What are you waiting for? Help me!"

The job of moving E fell to Kilowogg while the others went to search for any possible signs of a Mirror Power Battery. Eventually Aya found a charged one in an adjoining room and brought it back. They then realized the one problem.

"None of us know his oath!" Hal pointed out.

"He has recharged before, so he must have one." Razer noted, drawing looks from the Green Lanterns.

"Wait, when? How?" Hal blurted, trying to wrap his head around this situation. Truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes.

"When you and Kilowogg had your little scavenging adventure. He used my power battery and recharged." Razer stated, crossing his arms.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Kilowogg asked gruffly.

"No one asked and Aya already knew about it. I thought she shared everything with you two."

"I do not. It did not pertain to Hal and Kilowogg so I decided they did not need to know." Aya remarked, looking at Razer. He wasn't expecting that.

"Well we need to go back and get it if we want this to work." Hal said, and the group bundled the inactive power battery and E onto Kilowogg and went back to the ship. They were surprised when they saw the ship fully powered. Apparently with the Central Battery down, they were good to go.

In the multipurpose room, they assembled around E's body and the Red Power Battery.

"So how do we do this?" Kilowogg asked, stating the one problem everyone had been asking. Aya turned to Razer, seeming lost in thought.

"Razer, please remove your ring." Aya asked, getting everyone's attention.

"What? Why?" Razer asked, instinctively covering his ring.

"You are the only one who can access the Red Lantern Battery and as such, you need to wear his ring and recharge it."

"Grotz, I hate it when you're right." Razer muttered, clenching himself against the coming pain. With a barely suppressed scream of pain, the red ring slipped from his finger. He pulled himself up, placing E's large ring on his finger and started to recite his oath:

_With blood and rage of crimson red_

_We fill men's soul with darkest dread._

_And twist your minds to pain and hate_

_We burn you all that is your fate!_

Hal and Kilowogg couldn't believe their ears. Razer had to say that to recharge? How did he stand it? That's when it clicked for them. He didn't and that was why he always recharged in his room. Unfortunately, the ring seemed to lose charge instead when Razer finished reciting it.

"What happened?" Hal asked looking from Power Battery to the Volkregian, who seemed lost in thought.

"It didn't work. Why not?" Kilowogg inquired.

"It's not my ring, so maybe…. Aya could you project the other oath?" Razer mused, then turned to Aya. Aya complied, letting the whole crew read it while Razer recited:

_The power of the crimson red,_

_Can lead your soul away from dread._

_And heal the deepest wounds of hate,_

_Let no one else decide your fate!_

Razer braced himself for the pain that he expected. Instead, a gentle heat flowed through him, and he could feel the power returning to the ring. He looked down at himself, shocked to see red armor. But it wasn't his, it was too polished and smooth to be his. He reached up, feeling for his familiar horned helmet, only to find a streamlined headpiece that covered everything except his face. With some reluctance, Razer took off the ring and placed it on E's finger. They waited for a beat, then E bolted up, fear covering his face.

"I remember." He said, then passed out.

"Aya?" Hal inquired.

"He is merely unconscious Hal. He should awaken soon." Aya replied.


	12. What Was Lost (Pit-Stop Part 4)

**On the Interceptor…**

Waking up was painful, everything sent daggers into my already aching head. I remembered, but not everything. I looked at my fellow crewmembers, who seemed to be waiting on something.

"How do you feel?" Kilowogg asked, keeping his voice low in case it might make my headache worse. Which it did, but I covered my wince of pain by rubbing my face.

"Tired Kilowogg. Which one of you figured it out?" I inquired, my own voice driving pain and memories to my brain.

"Razer did. What were you thinking? Leaving us behind? Joining up with those guys? Taking advantage of their trust to wipe them out? Something tells me that you've been taking some lessons a little too well to heart." Hal spoke out.

"I wanted answers and I got them. I know everything about this ring and some more myself now. The wiping out of those pretenders was just a final quiz." I said, sliding off the table and into a chair. Aya gave me a glass of water, which I took graciously.

"You want to explain?" Hal said, sliding into a seat across from me. Kilowogg sat next to Hal and then Razer sat next to me. At least I hadn't lost that friendship. Not that either of us would ever openly admit that we were friends.

"Sure. I'm the only true Mirror Lantern. Those guys were pretenders, part of the final test administered by the Prism. The problem with a power based in emotional potential and choice is that you can have negatives as well as positive versions of them." I started, earning everyone's look of confusion.

I sat up straighter, ready to give the lengthy speech I would need to give:

"The Mirror Lanterns were established by the Prism itself. The very first sentient being was the first Mirror Lantern because it was capable of feeling all the emotions in the spectrum. Mirror Lanterns are the protectors of Prism and the balance of powers between the parts of the emotional spectrum throughout the universe. Only one Mirror Lantern is ever chosen at a time. I can access the powers that other Mirror Lanterns had that weren't from the ring. Which is why the Central Battery is here. The Prism is this planet. Those asteroids? Yeah they're a sensory explanation of the balance of the emotional spectrum.

My memory loss is part of being a Mirror Lantern. I gave up everything I could about myself to inherit this power. It was my choice to forget." I put my head down, shame filling me. Months of wondering why and it was my own fault.

"I had no idea. But what about the no ring, no heartbeat thing?" Hal asked, trying to keep off the painful subjects.

"I don't know. All I know is that the Prism hates the fact that I have the scar on my hand." I muttered, eyes barely clearing my arms. The shock seemed to be contagious, as even Aya took an involuntary step backward.

"What's so special about the mark?" Razer asked, looking at me with sympathy.

"It wouldn't say. Only that as long I have it and the ring, my soul is bound. Whatever that means."

"So what do you remember?"

"I remember fog, and a cloaked figure handing me the ring and telling me it was time to make a choice. I guess my choice was to put on the ring."

"This must be hard for you. To find out all this. I am sorry." Razer said, honestly looking sad for me. Everyone else chose this time to go away so I decided to ask about something that was bothering me.

"I have a question for you." I replied. Razer looked at me, clearly waiting.

"Do the names Odarazor, Ventia, Oda and Razuhl mean what I think to you?" Razer getting even paler confirmed it.

"How do you know those names?" He asked, and I could hear the deadly edge in his voice.

"One of my trials involved a man named Odarazor. I think he's connected to the Prism, but it's not exactly talkative. I saw a flash of his life. He told Oda to find his Razuhl, his hope for lasting peace. I'm guessing history repeated itself in your life?" I said nonchalantly, watching as Razer folded like a sail without wind.

"It did. My grandfather had to raise me after my mother left me with him once… once my father died. He always called me his Razuhl. He believed that by the time I was a man, the warlords would be done. Luckily, he didn't live to see me like this. He was so against violence that he didn't even keep a weapon in our home. I've betrayed everything he taught me by joining the Red Lanterns. He would have had a fit when I married Ilana. But I know he would have gotten over it once he had some of Ilana's home cooking." Razer smiled, the memories bringing him some badly needed cheer. Why does life have to be so unfair?

"Razer," he turned to me. "I think he would have loved her and he would be proud of you now. The only thing I think he would say is that it's time to let the hate go. You don't need it and neither did your grandfather."

Like I've said before, my life sucks sometimes.


	13. Undo ( Post Pit-Stop, Pre- Episode 10)

"How's it going Erin?" Hal asked as I moped about the multipurpose room in my civilian clothes. I grunted and barely managed to meet his eyes. I stretched back and heard a strange sound from one of my pockets. I reached in and pulled out a badly folded piece of paper. Hal came over and the others magically decided to congregate around at that same instant. I opened it up, and looked at the untidy but legible script on it. It read:

_To my future self:_

_My name is Erin. I'm writing this because I've been given a choice. A choice to stay where I am and be marred by my past, or start fresh and never be able to look back. I'm writing this because both of those options are terrible. I need my past to grow, to learn from my mistakes. But I cannot move on or even survive if I don't take this fresh start. Which has left me with a tough decision. One only made harder by my lack of guidance outside my own selfish desire to survive at any cost. The one thing I cannot forget is my name. It's the only certainty I have left as I write this letter. My name Erin, and I won't forget it. I won't forget what it means and why it matters. My name is Erin and that's all I need._

The others looked at me waiting for a response. I crumpled up the note and tossed it, blasting it to oblivion. They stared at me, shocked at what I had done. I felt something crack deep in my mind, and a trickle of memories started to touch my mind.

"Why would you do that? It was your only tangible link to your past." Hal asked, reaching to make sure I hadn't gotten a fever or anything. I bitterly slapped away his hand and replied:

"You read the note. It was the only way to survive. Whoever I was before only cared that he didn't die. He was a coward. He ran from his problems and set it all on me to make up for it. I am not him." I stomped out, heading to the bridge. The others followed, and watched as I angrily deleted pages of theories about my past from the computer. Hours of speculation and whimsical hope crushed by a single piece of paper.

Aya started to ask a question until Razer put his hand on her shoulder. Those two were getting closer than either of them wanted to admit. And maybe it's just what Razer needs to leave that hate behind. He would make a better Green Lantern than a Red. But that's just a friendly opinion, not a nomination.

"Are you remembering more?" Hal asked, watching me as I started twitching from the overflow of new memories.

"Yes, but they aren't helping." I said through the sudden headache. The memories weren't sunshine and rainbows I promise.

"Do you want to…."

"No, I don't want to share."

"Just thought I…."

"Don't. The headache painful enough. Don't add guilt to it."

"Fine. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the Power battery."

"Fine!" I exclaimed, shoving away from the console and heading to the table. I waited for everyone else to catch up, and finally the ache of the memories returning was fading. Once everyone had a seat, I started telling my full tale.

"I'm from the streets of Coast City, but I occasionally got out of town to avoid the cops when I stole stuff. Not big stuff, you know, food and clothing. But anyways I lived on my own my entire life. I've spent every day wondering where it would be safe to sleep, how long it would be until I could steal more food. Shelters didn't accept kids and I wasn't about to trust anyone to try and get into the state system either. Too many horror stories from other homeless people. Eventually I got chased down by a gang for being on their turf. They used a nearby steam grate to burn my hand, so I wouldn't forget who owned that section of the area. Eventually I learned how to hack things and stole the contents of an ATM. But this weird guy grabbed me, and handed me the ring. Told me I had a choice to make. I could give up that life and save myself at the cost of everything that was me. Memories, personality, you name it, I had to give it up. Or he would disappear, and I could try and make something of my life. I took enough time to write that note before I accepted. The ring took it all away. And it should have stayed there if that old version of me hadn't been too afraid to trust the man."

"Wow. You ever know your parents?" Kilowogg asked, trying to find some bright spark that wasn't exactly there.

"Nope. Got taken care of by others until I was about 4. Then I had to resort to begging and stealing out of garbage cans. Closest thing I had to parents was one of those talking childrens' books I dug out of a landfill. You know, the kind that read to you."

"That's terrible. I've lived my entire life in that city and I never saw anything like that." Hal pointed out.

"Yeah well, your parents kept you away from that hidden face of the town. I won't tell you how many times I slept in an open manhole because it was the driest place I could find."

"I thought my life had tragedy in it." Razer muttered, just barely audible to me and no chance of being overheard.

"You know, the worst part was the fact that I saw all those happy families, all those people living normal lives. They didn't care about the kid dressed in rags begging for anything they could spare. They didn't notice all the crime and filth that they managed to hide by day. I mean honestly, half the time I found something, it turned into a fight to the death. We were all desperate and if ending someone's days prolonged yours, you did it."

"They would have killed a kid? Wait, did you kill someone?" Hal asked, turning serious.

"More than once. You did what you had to do." I couldn't meet their eyes. There was too much blood on my hands.

"There's always another way!"

"Not when you're pinned to a wall, the life being choked out of you. If the only thing you can reach is a piece of glass, you stab that person in the neck and keep surviving. I don't know what fantasyland of a city you lived in Hal, but it wasn't mine. It wasn't the place that spat on me, broke my bones, and left me half-dead in snowdrifts. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lobotomize myself." I told them, my ring touching my temple as it had once before. Before I forgot that time, and tried to remove the darkest of those memories. But I couldn't. Now that they were back, they weren't going anywhere. Hal grabbed my arm, pulling my ring away. Not that either move had the intended effect.

"What are you doing?" He asked, pinning me to the table.

"Trying to forget."

"That's not the answer."

"Yes it is! I'm not that person. I never wanted to be! Do you think I want to remember all the things I did to survive? I don't want to keep seeing all their faces, all those people that had to die so I could just find some old piece of edible filth to make it another day?" I yelled at him, struggling.

"Who you were before doesn't have to define you. You called your old self a coward for running from his problems. Are you any better if you do the same? You said you put on the ring as some kind of act of redemption. So keep being you. The real you that woke up with nothing more than a ring and a dream." Hal let go of me, and went into the bridge. The others stared at me, then turned and followed. I rather ashamedly followed.

As everyone took up our positions for the next section of our journey, I overheard Aya ask Razer something.

"Why would he take such action, would it not damage him further to not acknowledge his mistakes to learn from them? Is he not putting the crew at risk by failing to learn?" She said, a little too loudly. She apparently doesn't know that I had good hearing.

"We perform to our best when we are true to ourselves. In his case, his past isn't true to who he is anymore. Sometimes the only way to stay true to yourself is to move on and leave the past behind where it belongs." Razer answered her. Wise words Razer, wise words.


	14. Hit Reverse (Episode 10: Regime Change)

"Something's been bothering me about your story. How did Razer wear my ring?" I asked as we neared Bertrassus. Iolande had called for help and since Hal liked to play the Knight in Shining Armor, we were going. Okay, it's the fact that there were Red Lanterns there but I gotta keep up the Hal-bashing. Because if I don't, the ship won't be big enough for his ego.

"He just did. He recharged it and we put it back on you. End of story." Hal said, trying to focus on the problem at hand. Not the fact that I had apparently pissed him off. Did I do something? They weren't talking, so I kind of gave up finding out what I did wrong but everyone was a little frosty these past few days. If it's the whole bad past thing, I get it; otherwise they're just being assholes.

"I get that, but that means he had to remove it. Which means it should have killed him, like it has every other time it's been removed."

"Maybe that's just it. He wasn't one of you, so it didn't want to kill him. Or maybe that's what that scar does. Or maybe the power of friendship saved him." This is why you can't confide in Hal about anything. At least I keep the important stuff to myself.

"Wait, Shiny and Red are friends? When did that happen?" Kilowogg wondered. Kilowogg, seemingly oblivious to everything on the ship. And he supposedly trains the Lanterns on Oa?

"It all started when sarcasm had two children, so they had to spend time together and became friends by just being in the same area." I replied, enjoying the taste of fresh sarcasm in the morning. Man it felt good to do that after so long being serious. Kilowogg growled and started to get up.

"Save it for the Reds you two." Hal ordered us. Apparently he missed the smirk from Razer.

So anyways, today's was one of those days. When we got to the palace, Ragnar was there and sporting a new red ring. The group of Reds jumped us and we started fighting, one-on-ones. This was lot harder to do without the element of surprise I had on Shard. After a while, it looked like only Razer and I were the only ones being effective until they started to gang up on the others. Hal made a distraction and we took advantage of the confusion. We were cut off from the ship and they were there so now we had new problems. Luckily, we were found by the Bertrassus resistance and Kothek, the head guard. That little bright spot was put out by the news that a Liberator was on the planet. (I wasn't there for the first one they came across, but from what they told me, this wasn't going to be any easier than when Razer had the idea to go to Shard alone.) On top of this, turns out that Atrocitus was right, and some forerunner robot-versions of the Green Lanterns did annihilate entire areas. The misery sundae now came with a wonderfully large cherry on top. Who wants some?

"Hey Red, you think you three can get our ship back?" Kilowogg asked Razer, indicating that Aya and I were supposed to go with him.

"I can handle this errand." Razer led us off to go take back the ship. Let's do something about our home being blockaded. A quick diversion followed up with tactical removal of pursuing elements should have worked. Had not something called all the guards away. No fighting necessary. Damn, I wanted the practice. So now that we had the Interceptor back, it was time to go help Hal at the Liberator. Aya managed to save Hal with a precise shot as we came in leading the resistance charge.

"Excellent aim." Razer remarked from the helm to Aya.

"Thank you." She said, preparing the next blast, while I dropped out of the ship to join the Bertrassus resistance in their charge. Something very satisfying about riding your own construct into battle, you see. So there we all were, fighting for Bertrassus and kicking serious Red tail. Eventually, they forced Aya and Razer out of the Interceptor, cutting us off from the needed firepower. The tide was turning against us, when all of sudden a wave of energy emanated from the Interceptor. The blue energy (Hope, I remembered from my initiation) supercharged the Green Lanterns and turned me blue.

"So that's what Hope can do," I muttered as I blasted the Red Lanterns around me from the sky. But I could only watch as Razer's ring failed him and he fell. Thankfully, Aya came to his rescue. Razer had to thank his guardian angel on that one. The one that was carrying him, not that thing most people chalk their saving throws to. Then the Liberator started making a bad noise. I know it was a bad noise because Kilowogg's voice was carrying pretty far. As they took care of the Liberator, I watched as a Blue colored battery flew from the ship and took off into space. Without it around, the blue aura faded and I changed back to my super reflective gray. Sad to see that color go, made me feel at peace. But Bertrassus was won back and we now had another victory under our belts.


	15. Prison Term (Episode 11: Flight Club)

(Quick clarification: I know other rings have that weird, one person-only safety measure but mine doesn't. All it requires is that you're willing to make the sacrifices accompanying it. Remember that one line from my oath 'let my allies be my might'? Apparently means that they can recharge me if I'm not able to. Very useful for the guy that dies without his charged ring. Which is why Razer managed to wear it. He was willing to put everything aside to help out a friend. I am proud of him for that. But if you tell Hal that he was technically correct about the power friendship protecting Razer, I will hurt you.)

So Hal apparently lost his Lantern on Bertrassus. Not that I told him about the blue one that I saw fly away. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Or make him accuse me of being crazy. I just got back into the sane category. Then Appa called and Hal wasn't in the mood and I don't think a call from that specific gnome would help morale anyways.

So new development. Mysterious civilization had a special way into the Forbidden Zone from Guardian space and the Reds were looking to use it. And we were going to blow it up. For a bunch of living fossils, the Guardians don't have a lot of respect for history. Especially now that Ganthet was gone. I really would have liked the chance to meet him. Off-topic again but I thought it bared saying.

So Aya told us that she remembers a prisoner by the name of… whatever the guy's name was, was on the prison asteroid where they had tried to leave Razer before I joined up. You know, the place with all the Aurum that makes Green Lanterns weak. That means only two of us would be able to fight and the others were liabilities. Fantastic. Goggin was hilarious though. So we started to head to wherever the guy was being held and Aya got weak, so Razer took her back leaving me as the only one with a working ring amongst our group. Wonderful. For them, not me.

Turns out that what's his face was dead and we were actually looking for a Thanagarian, these kind of Hawk-people. According to Kilowogg they were good people, but this is a prison. After Hal nearly caught a spear with his face, he came up with the wonderful idea for us to go in to their special cell. I really hope you're picking up my sarcasm here. Only Hal….

So we ended up having to fight our way out. I could have tried blasting my way out, but one rookie versus a bunch of ruthless flying pirates? Yeah I'm not taking those odds. Besides, Bith Rok strikes me as a little too much like the leader of those fake Mirror Lanterns. You know, traitorous. I watched Kilowogg get creamed by Bumpy, the current leader of the Thanagarians. I'm sharing that with Razer later. Or if Kilowogg finds it first, so we can learn how to fight Thanagarians without our rings by analyzing the footage. That sounds plausible. Luckily, Hal beat Bumpy with a dirty trick. Not that I disapprove, but Bith Rok really made me feel like taking a shower. The best part of the day was watching Bith Rok get what was coming to him. Aya used one of the mind things so we could trick the trickster. Good feeling. Our plan for escape was to die with the Thanagarians. Turns out that Hal can keep tricking the trickster once he knows what he has to do. I still think we need to put Bith Rok back in a cell. He convinced Bith to flee and distract the Reds so we could get out unnoticed.

"I have continuously doubted human deviousness but you two make me afraid to meet your people." Razer remarked to Hal's plan. Maybe it's time we all just have a day off.


	16. All or Nothing (Episode 12: Invasion)

Moment of truth people. This is where we stop the invasion or we screw up and doom everyone. No pressure.

So of course we have the required dialogue of how to proceed. Razer comes down on the side of returning to Oa. Hal and Kilowogg want to blow up the Lighthouse. Frankly, all we need is Mogo and control of the Lighthouse and we could wipe them out according to my calculations. But my battle calculus could be faulty. Or clouded by sugar shock from Hal's stash of marshmallows I found. Take your pick.

So we got to the asteroid field and it looked like we were first. Code worked and everything. So the Lighthouse was a marvel, generating a kind of gravity field that kept the asteroids apart. And we had to blow it up. I'm taking as many pictures as I can while we're there.

Then the thing started firing on us. Looks like Razer was right. And he's going to tell us so if we get out of here. We piled out, leaving Aya to get the ship out once we took out the tractor beam holding us in place. While the others distracted the Red Lanterns who had apparently beaten us here, I took out the beam, giving us the freedom to escape once Aya got them off us.

So we're stuck on this side of the asteroids, the Red Lantern armada is an hour behind us, and they already control the Lighthouse. Not good. Gnartz, even I'm not optimistic about this one. Then Aya has the idea that she can fly through the beam all the way back to the emitter. Yep, our little AI has grown up and told us off for discounting her abilities. I'm so proud, I would gladly call her my sister in sass. Sassing Jordan anyways.

"Never seen a machine fly that good." Kilowogg mentioned as we watched her fly.

"Perhaps there is more to her than meets the eye." Razer noted. Finally someone else noticed. It took me a while to see past the robot/AI shell and see that she really has a soul. At least that's what I think. After blowing off Hal to continue her part of the mission (Definitely part of this crew, no this family), he couldn't help but feel a little offended.

"She totally disobeyed my order." Hal practically yelled to us. To which we all gave our most sarcastic responses possible. I will let your imagination come up with your own versions of what we said.

Once we got the go ahead to come in from Aya, Hal didn't waste time getting us there. And Hal admitted his mistake to her, which was a huge step of growth for him. Razer, Aya, and I all worked together to set the place to blow. As we left, a Red Lantern attack ship followed us through as Razer blew the Lighthouse to the next existence. After Hal had his hotshot moment, we sat back to enjoy our sense of victory. The asteroids had closed and the Red Lantern armada had been beaten.

The only wrinkle was the damaged Red Lantern ship that had managed to make it through with us. Hal and Kilowogg got up to capture Atrocitus and Razer decided to go along, leaving Aya and me behind. We watched as the others got to the ship, but that's all I saw. I went to check on some noise near the ramp only to get grabbed. That little angry beach ball ripped off my ring, turning me dark. When I woke up, the others were there and the Interceptor was gone. Atrocitus had taken the Interceptor and now we were stuck out here. The worst part had to be when the asteroid field exploded, leaving a nice hole for the armada to come through. We lost. We had failed, and now there was no hope of winning.


	17. Homecoming (Episode 13: Homecoming)

When I last left off this recording, we were stuck on the edge of Guardian space, the Interceptor had been stolen and the armada had a nice big welcoming mat of asteroid dust to come into our territory. We didn't have a plan, and now when we needed it most, Hal didn't have an idea. Until I switched colors at least. I didn't do it on purpose; but when I started thinking of Gi'ata and the fact that I wasn't making it out of there alive, it made my ring turn me pink (sorry, violet) again. I guess the reflection thing works on my own emotions too. Oh wait, I knew that. When Hal said that we needed to get to Zamaron and use the Star Sapphires' teleporting trick to get Hal to Earth so he could speed to Oa from there, I agreed with Kilowogg. This was nuts, even for Hal. Eventually he convinced us it was going to work. Don't ask me how, it mainly involved sappy inspirational talk and Hal's natural charisma. When we started to leave, Kilowogg didn't come. He wanted to stay, to slow them down as best he could so Hal's plan might have a chance. Never will I see anything braver than that. If anyone tells you that Kilowogg wouldn't or couldn't do that, punch them for me. Preferably in the head, but hey your choice.

The flight was to Zamaron was tense to say the least. When we got there, Razer and I were ready to be killed on sight. Something stopped them from killing us. Or rather, someone saved us. A lot had changed since we had been there, and we had Gi'ata to thank for it. To see her again was the only reason I came along. Shallow in the scope of our mission, but hey love makes you crazy. An audience in front of Aga'po was just what we needed. Especially with Gi'ata there as the royal advisor.

"Gi'ata?" I asked, my ring throwing off sparks. Guess I overloaded it.

"It was you who opened my eyes to the true meaning of love, Erin. My enlightenment met with resistance at first, but then the truth took root and spread quickly." Gi'ata said, her eyes filled with hope. Persistent on top of everything else? As if I needed any more of an excuse to love her.

"It seems that over the ages, the Star Sapphires may have lost sight of the emotion we serve. Since you helped us regain our path, what do you ask of us?" Aga'po asked of Hal, since it was his idea. To be here; not for me to fall in love with Gi'ata.

"I need you to teleport me to my home planet." He said, willing himself not break under the weight of responsibility. For all the badmouthing I give him, Hal is the only person I could trust to do this.

"What you ask for cannot be done." Aga'po sadly answered.

"But I saw you teleport Carol Ferris here all the way from Earth. So use my feelings for Carol to send me to Earth. From there, I can stop a tragedy before it happens." Hal begged.

"The jaunt from Earth was the longest we've ever attempted. And we have never sent anyone the other way." Gi'ata explained. Man, not only is she beautiful but smart too.

"There is something more. The spatial displacement can render the traveler… unstable." Aga'po continued.

"It is too dangerous." Gi'ata finished. Well, the lady said so. Time to go back and save Kilowogg. Might as well go down fighting with my friends.

"If he doesn't reach Oa, not only will the Guardians be destroyed; but Atrocitus will lay waste to all the worlds in their care." Razer finally spoke up. Why did Razer have to go and make sense?

"Love and everything else will cease to exist in Guardian space. I've got to try. Please," Hal put his hands on Gi'ata's shoulders, pleading. I went from violet to red for a second and luckily the only one to notice was Razer. He wasn't going to comment on that at least. For my sake.

"Make sure this galaxy remains a safe garden, where love can bloom." Aga'po ordered Hal and then created the portal for him. When he walked through, it left Razer and me there. Stranded. Well I wasn't stranded. Now that I had seen it used, I could teleport to somewhere I felt strong enough ties to. Best part of this Mirror thing is the whole "anything you can do, I can do as well" thing. But without the others, I would be worse than useless since I need a friendly Lantern if I want to be able to use my powers. And there's only one person who could help me with that.

"Let's leave. If we hurry, Kilowogg may still be alive." Razer turning to go. I grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to stay put. The Star Sapphires watched with interest as I knew that they knew what I was about to do.

"No, Razer, there is another way." I said, looking at Gi'ata and back at Razer.

"What are you talking about?" He brushed off my hand but fully turned back to me.

"You have feelings for Aya. You love her, even though you deny it." I say, pointing at him. The snarl I got from him could have quelled the old me, but hey I'm serving as an agent of love right now. Nothing scares me.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do. I can see it inside you right now. Quit lying to yourself."

"That pink suit must be cutting off blood to your head."

"And your denial only risks her life."

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Razer put his hands around my throat, ready to strangle me with the slightest provocation. Fearsome, but ineffective.

"What would you do to save Ilana?" I asked, fearless in front of him as the Star Sapphires watched the unfolding drama. Are there such things as soap operas in deep space?

"Anything. You of all people know that." His hands moved away from my throat, but didn't quite drop. Time to make him take the plunge.

"Drusa was on the ship. Aya is in danger and you have a path to her. If you just admit that love for her exists in you. If you don't do this, you will lose her. Can you lie to yourself anymore? Will you deny your love at the cost of her life?" I said, knowing that this would make him angry. Angry but focused on Aya. Without a word, Gi'ata opened the portal and Razer practically dove into it. Sometimes what they need is a little push, and that's just what I gave Razer. Well I gave him something closer to a kick in the teeth but the metaphor works.

"What about you, o Mirror Lantern?" Aga'po turned to me and I couldn't help but smile. Time to fulfill my little promise.

"Now that I've seen you use the portals, I should be able to create my own to anywhere I have an emotional connection with. Like to the Interceptor or to my friend Razer." I simply stated, then created my own portal. Unlike theirs, it was stone grey and didn't show my destination. I turned to Gi'ata, and seized my chance. I pulled her close and kissed her. Her eyes widened a moment before she fell deeper into the kiss with me. Eventually we broke off, and Aga'po looked at me with a mix of curiosity and possibly disdain. I threw her a quick smile.

"That's so I can get back here." I said, stepping through the portal.

When I popped out the other side, Drusa was on the floor of the bridge out cold and Aya was in Razer's arms. I gave him the "go-ahead" motion. Hal might be in danger, but hey, love needed to conquer something that day. My presence momentarily forgotten, Razer leaned in, leading Aya in their kiss. I took advantage of the moment to kick Drusa. Maybe I'll make a piñata of her for the after party and let Aya go first. Just a thought. Yeah, so I left the two lovebirds alone and secured Drusa in the ship's brig. I came back and they still hadn't come up for air. Or maybe they did and went back in. I don't know and I don't want to. Probably about time to get back to the mission.

"Whenever you two are done, we need to check on Hal." I interrupted them. They broke off, and looked at each other for a moment. Then they refocused and we hurried towards the fight. We got there in time to see Hal KO Atrocitus and start to talk down the Red Lanterns. With Appa's help, Hal began the negotiations. It was finally over.

So it all closed up nicely. The Red Lanterns were defeated, Razer opened himself up for a moment, and because if it Aya was safe. When Hal asked how Razer got there so quickly, the Guardians interrupted him. I don't think Razer wanted to go public just yet. I wasn't going to say anything. Then Hal flew off, presumably back to Carol, leaving the rest of us on Oa. Razer and Aya kept to themselves and eventually I left. I decided to go back to Zamaron via portal because of Gi'ata. We all met up and went on a few more adventures of course, but they all paled in comparison to what came next for the intrepid crew of the Interceptor.

But that's a story for another memoir.

**AN: Stay tuned for the second season of Mirror Lantern: Diaries of a Reflection. **


	18. Season 2!

The next season of Mirror Lantern is up!


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